A girl sits in front of technology with tape covering her mouth. (Sophia Neckin/CU Independent)
There have been five significant mass extinctions to date. The last one took place 65.5 million years ago and eradicated the dinosaurs. I strongly believe we are now living through the sixth extinction, but this time, it is not the death of a species—it is the death of communication.
Why is it that Generation Z finds it so difficult to engage in basic conversation—one of the most fundamental human developments? It’s an easy thing to notice once you become aware of it. The length in which people can look in each other’s eyes is shortening and the words once used to craft long love concessions are losing their endurance. For better or worse, it is affecting and challenging the validity of the college educational system that we once idolized and considered impenetrable.
It’s undeniable that along with the benefits of technological advancement come an increasing number of detrimental effects. Gen Z fostered some of the world’s first-ever ‘iPad kids.’ Our brains are absorbing pixelated information from YouTube, TikTok and other forms of social media before they fully develop. For this reason, it is imperative to attempt to draw a connection between early screen exposure in childhood and a lack of communicative abilities in adulthood.
Children used to watch shows and movies designed to teach important lessons while exposing them to various social situations. However, Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues have been recently replaced by 60-second clips designed to captivate temporary attention, regardless of the content. These new forms of entertainment may create the shortened attention spans we see today. Now, some young adults are finding it difficult to maintain focus during conversations, making them less inclined to engage in topics that require sustained attention. This leaves room only for shallow conversations, further strengthening a sense of disconnect between individuals.
That’s not to say we aren’t communicating and connecting digitally. The average American spends 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media alone each day. However, these methods have several issues. Firstly, we have reduced communication to a transactional exchange. We ask questions merely to receive answers, even though the answer is often the least important and least satisfying part of the conversation.
As humans, we subconsciously crave connection; it’s why we communicate. Lately, to fulfill this longing, we have been turning to social media, unaware that it creates only an illusion of the connection we seek. We’ve all become junkies, chasing the next fix of dopamine that can only be obtained from the validation of others, usually online. A decrease in face-to-face contact leaves people feeling stressed and unsure in social situations, causing them to rely on their smartphones as a security blanket.
Furthermore, digital communication has become an indispensable safety net for our society, and here’s why. In the digital realm of communication, you can change or erase a message as many times as you want until you’re satisfied with the information the other person receives. This eliminates the pressure of saying ‘the wrong thing’ when conversing over text. Suddenly, what you may have genuinely wanted to say becomes secondary to how the other person interprets the message. This fear and need for acceptance has caused humanity to rely on filters.
Filters shape everyone’s thoughts and conversations, negating the fear of making statements that might lead to being ‘canceled.’ All of a sudden, we are placing more value on being correct than on our capacity to engage in debate and work with others to cultivate the innovation of new ideas. We have become uncomfortable with ourselves and our thoughts, barely allowing them to remain in our minds. For this reason, why would anyone choose to make uncomfortable thoughts tangible by speaking them into existence, when we could instead remain silent within the comfortability of social safety?
This is directly applicable to a college campus. Due to the frightening power dynamics and lack of experience in formal, classroom settings, many students find themselves scared to approach their instructors. Communicating with professors becomes an uncomfortable experience. Furthermore, the unwillingness of each party to examine the similarities and differences between how they communicate leads to tension and the loss of a relationship between professor and student.
There has been an evolution of the way we learn as humans and many of my colleagues are having a hard time reaching students,” said Pilar Munoz, an English professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. “There is a disconnect.”
With the rise of ChatGPT, this disconnect also stems from a lack of trust between both parties. Professors often harbor suspicion about the authenticity of students’ work, while students feel as though they are constantly being accused of lacking ability.
“Education doesn’t know what to do with ChatGPT. I hate it. I wish it didn’t exist,” Munoz said.
I could continue down the rabbit hole of why people find it increasingly difficult to communicate with one another. We could explore the decline of avid readers or the rise of TikTok. Or we can look at the part of this conversation that is more important than the answer: recognizing how the lack of human communication diminishes not only the college experience but also the quality of modern life as a whole. It’s about sitting with the discomfort of our own thoughts.
Perhaps then, we can once again look into another person’s eyes for an extended moment, with the simple intent of connecting to a person—not a device.
Contact CU Independent staff writer Sophia Neckin at sophia.neckin@colorado.edu.
