As harsh as the title may sound, what makes us human is our ability to be social. We are creative, empathic beings. That is what separates us from animals.

Social media bombards us with bad news so often that we don’t even feel anything anymore when we come by a story time video talking about a gory crime. We’re so desensitized that we just scroll on past to the next TikTok video about some concerning world news. 

This is destroying our empathy because we normalize hearing about this stuff. Being empathetic is supposed to help us address challenges, cooperate and be altruistic, but with constantly seeing so much go on everywhere in the world, we get so overwhelmed to the point of not caring anymore. 

There’s a word in Spanish for leisure, “ocio,” that truly means a time when you are doing absolutely nothing – idling. Idling helps your brain think, reflect and be creative. It’s incredible what listening to your brain can do, but because of technology, this action has become almost extinct. 

I mean, just think about it: How many times a day are you truly doing nothing? Not scrolling on TikTok, not adding posts to your Pinterest board, not liking Instagram posts, not watching T.V., not even listening to music. 

We are constantly surrounded by stimuli that detach us from reality, we have grown so accustomed to not being in the moment that even being alone with ourselves makes us uncomfortable. 

Technology is killing creativity, and I’m not even talking about AI taking over some of the most creative, and therefore human, projects in life like art and music, that is a conversation for another day, but by silencing our thoughts.  

I was talking to my friend a few weeks ago about how we don’t talk to strangers anymore. Not in a “stranger danger” kind of way, but more so in a human connection way. We’re so comfortable communicating and socializing through social media that we’ve grown scared to pursue the most human thing of all, face-to-face interaction. It’s so easy to send a DM to your crush that going up to someone in person and asking them out seems like insanity. 

Why risk asking in person when you can simply hide behind a screen and pretend you didn’t see their potential rejection? The other thing is, we chat so much online that by the time we are in person, there’s nothing else to say. 

Why would the person you’re talking to want to see you when they’ve been texting you all day on Snapchat? It’s not only about romantic relationships, though. We’re isolated, even when surrounded by people. 

According to Jenna Theron for Stevenson University, time spent with friends in person has dropped by 20 hours per month since 2003. When we go to a coffee shop nowadays, everyone around us is on their phones or with their headphones on. 

There are no more casual conversations where you chat to the person next to you in line and ask about their order. Life goes on around us and we don’t even notice because we are too busy looking at what our friends on social media are doing. 

Next time you’re walking to class, pay attention to your surroundings. Most likely, you will see every individual on their device, and even if you do try to start a conversation, or give out a compliment, they probably won’t even hear it because their headphones are on. I’m almost jealous of our parents and grandparents who grew up without portable screens. 

I’m jealous of those who chatted with the person sitting next to them at the park, who didn’t need to be scrolling on social media or playing Subway Surfers to be watching TV comfortably, who didn’t need to know what everyone is doing at every second of the day, who actually got to live like humans. 

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Hi! I’m Hannah Planey, A Magazine’s editor-in-chief. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important and entertaining news from the realms of fashion, beauty and culture. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate to A Magazine.