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Boulder City, NV
Opinion

Love in communications

By Eric Lundgaard Boulder City Review
July 27, 2023 - 6:51 pm
 
Updated August 4, 2023 - 4:05 pm

Mental health issues are on the rise in the United States, aren’t they? I continue to read of the loneliness that America is facing as I smile concerning my information associated with the consciousness of humankind. Loneliness is somewhat ironic, isn’t it, since there are now over 8 billion humans on Earth?

When I was born, there were 2.6 billion. My premise is unique. Human behavior arises from our hearts in consciousness. The research done by Professor Emeritus Albert Mehrabian of UCLA indicates that most of any message is conveyed by body language and tone of voice.

Our hearts long for the intimacy of love available in conversations in person, don’t they? What happened? We have entered into a relationship with machines that we do not understand. While requiring the love of human companionship humankind is accepting remote communication on the Internet using small boxes packed with soft and hardware.

We miss each other in the love engendered from intimate communications, don’t we? Similarly, we don’t understand one another well without the presence of another, do we? I enjoyed having citizens offer opinions while I was on city council. As I watch city council meetings on TV, I notice that there are fewer spirited conversations concerning city council actions than there were in the 1980s. Many of us have a preference to communicate remotely on the Internet. It is really that simple, isn’t it? When we don’t communicate regularly in person, we lose our ability to perform effectively in this manner. If you don’t believe intimate communication is possible, enjoy the conversations while watching a classic movie from the 1940s and 50s. There was a tremendous amount of intimacy and love arising from communications in the United States of America during and following World War II.

No therapy can resolve the loneliness of the USA, can it? Since the skill of intimacy in conversation is learned as we develop to adulthood, the presence of remote communications has engendered the loss of speaking to each other in intimate conversations with love, hasn’t it? The advent of the Internet and as well as artificial intelligence (AI) has removed our intimate conversations which activated love from sharing in person. Our smart phones are AI, aren’t they? According to the Netflix movie “Social Dilemma” as well as the book “IGen” by Jean Twenge, programmers are asked to addict us to those devices by creating programs to do so, aren’t they? Big Tech derives its revenue from our time on their sites where they can advertise, don’t they? These corporations desire us using their sites as long as possible, don’t they?

The USA appears to benefit from being challenged by overwhelming odds. Perhaps it will once again. Our nation began with the Revolutionary War focused on Great Britain with our first ally, France while the Declaration of Independence as well as a Constitution were created and signed. People who rarely agreed with each other like Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison met at Jefferson’s home to negotiate issues such as the relief of the debt of each state for agreement on a location of the capital of the United States of America on the Potomac. Conversations regarding the genesis of our nation occurred with intimacy as well as love since all parties were focused on what would facilitate the survival of America. None of these conversations occurred on the Internet where the elements of communication including body language as well as tone of voice are missing, did they? Intimacy, love, and meaning are lost as we currently attempt to share words on the Internet, aren’t they?

Another issue arising at the birth of the nation was slavery. That issue was resolved by America more clearly with love following the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln brought the Declaration of Independence into stature with the Constitution at that time. His love allowed the USA to recognize the equality of humankind. The statement that all men are created equal has become all persons are created equal in our democratic republic, hasn’t it? That transition was made possible by Lincoln’s gesture to put the Declaration on par with the Constitution. Love is always the answer, isn’t it?

Will the citizens of the USA find joy in conversations in person once again? What could be causing the increase in mass shootings in the USA? What is causing the polarization of the politics of America? Could it be traced to our lack of desire to continue talking to each other in person? With more AI on our horizon, wouldn’t it be best to first understand human consciousness as well as the genesis of human love from consciousness?

Eric L. Lundgaard is president of the Aquarian Theosophy Foundation and former council member and mayor.

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