Do we value human connection in this time of disconnection? I stumbled upon Neurochallenge Finland, a hackathon that takes place next month, where participants are being encouraged to team up and come up with ideas on how to build tech that promotes brain health in the aging population. My immediate thought is that games, crosswords, sudoku and other tech inventions all have their place in promoting brain health, sure. But what people desperately need in this day and age is connection. People are lonely and isolated, and not only when they get older. That does not favor brain health. Those brains don’t need another game or robotic adventure.
More and more attention is being put into how we can develop tech and robots to replace human connection and physical presence. Some of the inventions serve a purpose, yes, and that is exciting, but when it comes to human connection and grace I see that the innovators and developers of that futuristic tech in healthcare are disconnected from what it means to be met with grace and presence. Let’s talk about it!
We see healthcare being replaced with some kind of “disease and illness management”, technology and robotics (very fascinating such!) replacing human connection and presence, as if we have forgotten that human connection and presence is everything for a people that is a herd animal.
Human connection needs resources too
Put resources into movement practices, dance, connecting to emotions as old as time, connecting to your voice, and singing together as a community. Put resources into connecting to your body, your life, your emotional body and brain. Not only into dieting and fitness and omega oil, or tech.
Real connection is lacking in today’s society, and with AI and other technological substitutes advancing we need to remember to foster our ability to connect to ourselves and to others.
Connection fosters health, it fosters brain development.
Are you practicing this? Are you good at this?
We need touch, presence, empathic presence; someone who looks us in the eyes because they want to listen and understand us. We need compassion and kindness, not only towards others but also towards ourselves. We need to foster the ability to listen to stories with empathy for their lived experiences. No technology can replace this (even if it in practicality actually could).
One of the feedbacks I hear from my clients or workshop participants is that they felt seen in my space, which made them feel safe. This helped them to open their hearts, to meet themselves with compassion, to be curious about their emotions or experiences, and to feel connected to another person’s life. As a result they could be better leaders, better parents, better life partners, better community members. What a gift to be able to give that to someone. Why would we ever want artificial connection to replace that experience of connecting with one another?
Need for empathic human connection
I see a lot of praise for artificial advancements and I hear how people are blindly infatuated with these developments, as if nothing they saw in sci-fi films ever worried them, as if it’s all just cool as it takes over the human experience step by step. But authentic human connection is in fact much cooler. Feeling connected to yourself through a connection with another or a community, is much cooler. I see people infatuated with tech and artificial developments, because partly they work with it, so it gives them purpose and success. Perhaps they have partly forgotten what it is to connect to ourselves and to feel connected to others; living comfortably disconnected from what matters most – human connection, humanity, presence, touch, empathic listening, and not only to others, but it starts from connecting to ourselves.