I have often referred to our current high-tech, instant-access culture as "insanity masquerading as intelligence." It lacks the essential ingredient that transforms information into intelligence and, ultimately, wisdom. That ingredient is common sense.
Common sense tells us that if we are to gain a sense of control over our lives and destinies that we must simplify them by limiting our commitments. We get off the treadmill represented by the social media and find our soul mates. We must exchange quality for quantity in our relationships.
When we have done this, we will find that the fatuous trivia available on the social media to be both boring but also distracting. We will have found real friends and no longer require the constant reinforcement represented by texting and twixting. We can say goodbye to Facebook and have lunch with a real friend.
The reason that so many of us are forced to resort to social media relationships is that most of our traditional relationships are so shallow. Parents don't really want to know who their kids really are, where their joys, passions and purposes reside; they are just interested in how well they did in school.
Adults don't really take the time to know what their friends stand for or their values; they just want to know what kind of cars they drive and how much money they make.
True, in-depth relationships are the antidote for the insanity that Facebook represents.
Joseph H. Vanderpool
Rensselaer