Losing Language

Today I think I shall begin with the simple task of saying hello, to formally introduce myself to you, the reader. And now for the topic comment of my spiel: It has come to my attention that most certainly we live in a digital age, and one where technology lords over us all. Human contact is regulated behind the unwavering screens of our computers, our mp3’s and our televisions, and monitored unscrupulously thanks to instant updates via Facebook and Twitter. We blog of our trials and tribulations, and chatter meaninglessly all day, every day, online, through text, by Skype, on MSN – an overload of chatter and regurgitated words. Our pace is quickened by the early morning starts and the maniacal rush to work/school, where we slave all day/night until we come home, heat up leftovers or stuff our faces with MSG and synthetic compounds. We live for the weekends, which pass by in a blur, either asleep, online, drunk, drugged or stressed. Where is the downtime? Where is the ME time? Is this hectic mess really life? Which is another point entirely and not the focus of this discussion.

Instead I am mulling over the concept of speech. Why do we say what we say, in the way that we say it, at the time that we do? It is common to speak without realising and to immediately regret what has been said, or more disastrously to mean it via a Freudian Slip. In fact we talk so much I wonder at what we actually say! In a typical sentence we hear bad grammar and a majority of slang with much meaning attached to the pitch, volume and tone of our voices. Speech has evolved so quickly that just speaking to someone a few years younger results in almost complete disbelief at one’s speaking habits! It begs the question: is the English language being taught in our schools at all these days??? Internet slang dominates conversations, and it is not uncommon for children to spend more time chatting online than in person. Is this the natural evolution of language? Technology plays a vital role in the direction it is turning.

I shudder at the thought of society in a hundred years time – mere biological robots living to work and experiencing life through the battery operated windows of Apple (for Apple is surely taking over the world!). Conversations reduced to idle chatter, meaning nothing and at the same time, meaning everything. For if we lose the connection to our words, what else are we losing connection to? Is the ability to create and bond person to person built upon the blocks of language? The language of voice, signs, touch and looks? If we continue down this path to a digital Wonderland, who will lead us out? You? Me? Ha. I am writing this on a computer, submitting it online and awaiting payment thanks to Internet Banking. We are well and truly on our way to change. Only time will tell.