What are You Modeling?

We frequently read those startling statistics regarding the number of hours that teens spend with their eyes glued to their computer screens, phones, or television.  But a recent study reported that parents might have a lot more in common with their teens than you might imagine. “Common Sense Media,” a nonprofit organization, found that parents…

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Is It Real?

It seems that we are hearing lots today about “fake news.”  As I heard Denzel Washington say, “If you don’t watch the news you are uninformed and if you watch the news you are misinformed.”  He went on to say that media is more concerned about being the first to report something than they are…

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What are the Rules for Engagement?

During the last three weeks we have been looking at how technology impacts our most precious relationships.  In recent years, cells phones have begun to occupy greater and greater prominence in our lives.  While it certainly puts the world at our fingertips, it also has contributed to incredible strain on our most significant relationships.  We…

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Are You Absently Present?

In 2016 Psychology Today called attention to the fact that smartphones fragment human consciousness. They contend that the habitual use of smartphones lowers our ability to be empathetic as well as diminishes the “quality of conversation.” This is our third in a series addressing technology and our relationships. In the first post we looked at…

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Are You the Victim of Technoference?

Chicago psychologist, Nicole Martinez reported that in a study of young married women, “70 percent reported that face-to-face conversations were stopped in their tracks by a partner’s phone use or even active texting.”  These intrusions have been referred to by some as “technoference.” We began last week to take a look at some of the…

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Are You Alone Together?

“You’re with your other husband again,’ Marilyn’s only husband would say every time she turned to her cellphone while the two were driving to dinner.  She thought he was just being his witty-self.”  But then his words began to get to her. In the last couple of years, I have written increasingly about our preoccupation…

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What Will They Say?

Do you ever wonder, if you could be a fly on the wall at your office, your home, your friend’s house, or even your church – what would you hear people saying about you?  Would they speak of your kindness and generosity or are they more likely to be discussing your self-centered arrogance?  Do people…

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