Emails can be evil

Very interesting what you said about technology was supposed to give us more leisure time. This has definitely worked the opposite.

When I worked, I didn't go to another desk or office to talk to someone. I email them. I email my vendors and my clients. And in return, I get a zillion emails a day, many of it "action items". I was chained to my desk with emails. So impersonal.

Also, in business now, if someone sends you an email, they expect an answer back pretty darn fast. So, there you are sending acknowledgments of the email, and not spending quality time working on the reason the email was sent. In most business, it is considered rude not to respond in a very timely manner. And forget those chains were there are 10 copied people and they start a chain. Sometimes it's like looking at some of the Debate Forums at CZ. Sometimes it is a debate, but only a few parties are off on the side debating, while we all get ALL the emails. I've seen those emails submitted in legal trials, and actually saw a lawyer put one up on a overhead, with arrows, and people numbered. It was so confusing, the jury was laughing.

I know many many people in business with very little social life outside of work. And work consists of sitting at a desk, mostly, and emailing. And many of these people relocated away from family from all over the country. So they are even more isolated. So, many of these people use the internet as their social interactions.

That much time in front of a monitor, whether it is a computer or TV, is bound to cause some severe depression.

Very interesting post.

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