Individual experiences vs shared experiences

The few weeks ago, I was running errands and I drove past a family sedan with not one, but two separate little TV screens in the back for their 2 little kids to be entertained. 
At first I thought, "Man, that must be really hard to focus with competing audio from two separate TVs."
I realized then, of course, that they surely have earbuds in so they are in their own little world. 

I'm definitely not judging this family, maybe they have good boundaries on how often the children are plugged in. 

But the scene just set my mind thinking through how we pursue individual experiences. I started noticing this trend heavily when I was in college way back in '05. Even then it seemed that everyone had their own universe, because that was better than having to deal with other people.

Since then, the trend seems to be continuing further. Facebook was just beginning then, smart phones were able to text and email and the iPhone didn't exist. 

The elusive joy of the future will be shared experiences. People will pine for shared experiences as individual experiences are the norm. 

I promise. People will always crane human interaction. Human touch. Eye Contact. 
Start doing things with other people. 

So here's my recommendation: if you live in Kalamazoo, go to Sweetwater Donuts, have coffee with a friend and leave the phone at home. 


If you don't live in Kalamazoo, you should.