Changing the culture: (are we too dependent on computers?).

Computers enable us to work faster, more efficiently and do jobs that previously we had to employ other people to do. But are we getting too dependent on them? When the server goes down on a company network it can paralyse the business for hours, sometimes days. We can come to rely on our PCs to such an extent that an unexpected hard disk crash and consequent data loss can be a personal disaster.

The younger generation particularly have seized on the extraordinary communication possibilities of the Internet. Using Telnet, my son joins chat groups on philosophy which he is studying for A-level. He conducts live conversations by keyboard with, for example, a friend in Japan. By opening a second and third `window' on his computer screen he conducts simultaneous conversations with correspondents in Los Angeles and India--global communication, at the speed of light and all for the price of a local phone call.

The media is full of stories of the romantic possibilities of the Internet and again the younger generation have not been slow in exploiting its potential. However there are pitfalls for the unwary. The son of a colleague conducted a long and passionate exchange of e-mails with a girl in Ohio which concluded with her flying over to the UK at her mother's expense to meet the boy. Almost as soon as they met at Heathrow airport they realized to their dismay that they had totally misread each other over the Internet. Much of the subtlety of human-to-human communication is lost in electronic messages.

Even in this era of e-mail and video-conferencing, politicians, businessmen and diplomats travel the world for important meetings because hearts and minds can only be changed by talking face to face.

To negotiate with a fellow human one has to understand needs, motivations and aspirations which can so easily be misunderstood over electronic networks. Shame on those who use e-mail or faxes to break off a relationship or fire their staff. Technology is not inherently a good or a bad thing, but it is changing our culture and our habits at a whirlwind pace. We have to stand back sometimes and try to be aware of where it is leading us in our personal lives.