Essays of Revolt - Jack London
My company uses an e-HRM system. The system is why my colleagues and I never forget to wish each other on birthdays and anniversaries. Systems like these save us from the embarrassment of appearing indifferent. Other systems like smartphones ensure that the most halfhearted birthday greeting appears sincere and colourful. All you have to do is type “Happy” and the autocomplete does the rest - it composes the shortest message needed to show how much you care. It will even recommend the right emojis - because whole words need too much reading, we can surely be more efficient. We’ve got a “Happy Birthday” greeting down to about three taps on a touchscreen. One system precipitates this behaviour with automated emails, and other systems propagate it. The greatest gift of social media is avoiding social interaction without looking like a misanthrope - it is no wonder that social media has swallowed whole an entire generation. If we’ve built and nurtured systems that make automatons out of humans, and others that reduce social interaction to taps and clicks and swipes, we probably deserve it.