The Importance of Human Beings

I have found, in my 17 years, that many of my beliefs tend to change over time and with different experiences. But one thing I value more and more as our society progresses is, simply put, human beings. It’s easy to get lost on the internet, on your phone, behind a camera or when watching a film. But I believe that true fulfilment and happiness will come through other people, not through these modern conveniences. Of course, all these computers and systems make life pretty easy, but they’re no foundation. It’s common knowledge that humans are social creatures. It can be hard, however, to make meaningful connections with people through facebook. Things like facebook and twitter seem to take away from the emotion and human touch that is exposed in a face to face interaction. You shouldn’t be learning about the real world through reality TV or by reading your news feed, you should be out living it.

I stayed in an impoverished community in Honduras recently and, except for when I was sleeping, I was around other people. The community would come together during the day and only go back to their houses for meals and to sleep. While we did have phones, radios, and even TVs, they were used more often while around other people. For example, we would play music together and dance and there were a few songs everyone of every age knew and would sing along to. In the US, it seems to be “cool” to listen to music by yourself, with headphones, and often to listen to music that no one else has heard of. While I completely respect this, I would love to see our society become more familiar with one another.

When it comes down to it, a computer is just a modern tool. A person has unique thoughts and feelings, has stories to tell, jokes to crack, and ideas to share. I value the people of this earth and I believe it is the people that matter most.