Human beings or speaking machines
Each one of us has had this experience of when phoning to get a service, stumbling upon an answer machine. After pressing many buttons, finally we get through to a human being at the other end of the line. Yet, the other human being has also a list of answers and instead of trying to be of service, many times is unable to help.
Despite the sophisticated media today - that always helps in the small tasks - I believe we are loosing somehow this human warmth in our relations.
Acoording to you: how did we loose this human contact? Also, how this new type of relation will affect our future?
I’ve tried both. First I made horrible mistakes, the type that bury themselves under your skin and into your heart and come up for air every time you think you’re fine. Then I felt too weak to take any more risks and I tried magic. My magic however was different from what you mentioned, there was no light. I requested the person I wanted, just as I wanted him, on the right day, at the right time, in the right place. It worked. I’m very happy and grateful to have had my request answered. I am also happy that I made the mistakes first, even though sometimes I still feel a burn, because otherwise I wouldn’t appreciate what I have now as much as I do.
well..
it depends because sometimes human beings are just like speaking machines they jst say things without even thinks abt it or maybe some humans are asked to be a speakin machines and get payed for that!!
somehow its easier to deal with speaking machines espicially in buisness things as you know you dnt have to care for their feelings becz they dnt have one..
but for me and in social life i’d prefere human being ofcourse bcz i love to feel things goin on and u know this small drama that happens it makes our lives look real and i love reality with it faults it makes me feel a live!!
I think we did loose ourselves a bit to, - & in technology..
All of a sudden there’s a space provided to hide in.. - & behind.
From everything like answering machines or ’speaking machines’
(people standing over their answering machine; listening, instead of picking up - putting a distance even there,
- & indeed being referred to a machine, when needing help, - to hiding behind ’screen names’; putting photos found of someone looking seemingly perfect; putting a distance not only to what, - & those who is already far away, - but to
ourselves.
Did we then loose ourselves when
being just You
was no longer enough?
When, in images & outer self; no longer was a beautiful model
beautiful enough, but had to be perfected & retouched.
When, in being there, for others; was replaced by machines.
Where we then told we where not enough?
Maybe by making it simpler for all the wrong reasons,
made those at the other end of the line, forget how to just be
themselves.
Deprogrammed.
Dehumanised.
I had a latinprofessor once who always said (in veiled voice);
“Us humans.. we never knew how to let the pendulum stop
hanging in peace; at the middle. We sway to the far right,
- & to the far left.”
So then will we turn away from it completely; the
dehumanising?
Will we realize there’s no machine ever that can replace a smile?
Maybe we should all do like my grandfather, - & answer
in the voice of a machine; leaving only a special set of
answers already chosen, - & immutable, whenever we get a call
from the bank, the customer services, the telemarketer..
*smiles*
But there’s such beauty too. Such inspiration, generosity,
thankfulness & artistic qualities in this technology world
if You look in the right places.. in the interspaces.
That is weighing heavily on the other side.
Maybe so heavily, the pendulum will be weighted closer to
the tranquil eye.
Obrigado lembrando me de mim, Paulo.
Love / hannah, sweden
In our attempt to ’simplify’ our lives, we human beings set about automating and standardizing the various things we do in our lives. This led to machines and automated systems handling many jobs which were earlier done by human beings-right from a housewife replacing a maid servant with a washing machine and a vaccum cleaner to an automatic dispensor replacing a roadside vendor. As a result, the number of instances of human contact that each one of us experiences in a day comes down drastically. One direct consequence of this would be that we ‘feel’ less while we ‘do’ more. Obvioulsy, you will not smile at your washing machine while you switch it on. But when you open the door for your maid servant in the morning, you will at least mumble a ‘Hello’. Would we in future, become more like the machines we created and less like the human beings we are? I hope not.
I enjoy technology in every aspect of our daily life. The ‘talking machines’have many times been of help to me and saved some time..When I do not get the answer I need, usually I ask for the person responsible for it. If I do not succeed, then I send a FAX, ‘without prejudice’, of course. Usually I get the answer I need. ‘SCRIPTA MANENT’, if I remember my Latin from school well!! You may know, that a FAX is accepted as evidence to the Court. As for talking to peaople instead to a machine, how many times after saying something to somebody we have the feeling that we speak to the….wall??? Have a nice week. LOVE Thelma
I’m not a machine.
I am NOT a machine.
I-am-a-not-a-machine
I-am-a-naught-ayy-mar-sheeen
I am a naughty martian
I have a speaking machine, but nobody likes speaking to it, so it doesn’t speak back ;) In my business it is necessary to be available around the clock, so in order to get some sleep, I need technical assistance. However, I do find it a necessary evil, for I prefer of course to interact with clients through direct dialogue.
As you said Paulo, some tools do help us accomplish tasks more efficiently but we should not become dependent on them, like a drug, otherwise they tend to take over and rule your life.
I think Dale Carnegie once said “The sweetest sound to the human ear, is the sound of his own name” Love to “Paulo” & friends, Paul
More often than not, I prefer human beings. With a human being you get the emotional response which is never there with the machine. Even if they’re not always able to help, I still find it easier to relate and communicate to them.
I’ve noticed they’ve started to replace human beings in shop checkouts with machines too… Just over the last month, the supermarket where I buy my groceries has put in a few “self-checkouts” where a machine talks to you and directs you how to do your own scanning, put products in your bag etc. Even though it may be quicker at times, I don’t think I’d like it if that was my only option. With a person you can have a quick chat, they smile at you and you smile back - there’s a real connection there and sometimes something so small can make my day! :)
I agree with heba sari that human beings often are nothing more than speaking machines. We say what we’ve been told to say by our superiors, religious authorities, by the media, by our families. I believe learning to speak your true mind requires a certain detachment from such things.
For certain compagnies is it a very safe manner of working.
There is no confrontation between people.In certain casses
is very difficult to get help if you have a certain
problem. If you shout to a machine it doesn’t react,its a certain barrier.Its like ivory tower.
Human beings are the reason why we speak to answering machines. Why you ask?
We want reasonable prices, i.e mobile phone rates, computers, etc. Answering machines do not get paid, they dont get social security, they dont get ill. In short - they are considered efficient and reliable. To give us reasonalble prices and serve as many customers as possible, machines are necessary.
Compare this to other elements…
Do you prefer a homecooked meal or do you buy take-out?
Do you make eye-contact with strangers passing you on the street?
I enjoy making a homecooked meal even though it is more expensive for me to buy the ingredients than choosing the take-out meal. I choose to spend time shopping for the ingredients, cook the meal and serve it to my friends and family. If I meet a stranger passing me, I will smile. It is free, costs me absolutely nothing - but it gives me and hopefully the stranger value.
I do not think we will avoid a world of machines. However, fortunately there are simple ways to interact with humans in your everyday life.
Greet your neighbours and fellow human beings and smile!
We have become enamored with technology to the point of having intimate experiences over telephone lines. It’s the consumers need of saying “I have (insert gadget here)” and this need also applies to the corporations who are competing against each other to see who’s automated system is more realistic. It’s definitely decreasing not only our human interaction and the warmth of our relationships as you said, but also our ability to relate to others altogether. Without practice in socializing and talking and listening to live people, face to face, soon we won’t know how to do it at all anymore.
G
According to me, we lost this human touch because a lot of people are only interested in making money and in the benefits they get from having a lot of money, in the process, people are left without jobs, since machines are taking their jobs.
This is anoying because machines have their limitations and sometimes people’s needs cannot be boxed in the options they get from the machines and need a human being who listen to them and really is interested in helping!
I do wish that the Spiritual awakening that is taking place will change all this, and we will become people that care about each other, what a wonderful world this would be!!!
Love and Light!!!
This is a phenomenon that I have also observed (and been upset about)and digested/experimented with. What I have found with “human machines over the telephone” is that if I appeal to their instincts (instead of trying to “skip” the questions or influence their behavior - is anybody home????) it is possible that they will “come out”! (-; Especially younger people today are incredibly sensitive, so much so that they often happily hide behind all of this protocal and don’t seem to know anything else (and why should they, when they “need” playstations in the woods while hiking?) - On the other hand, though, they have INCREDIBLE “bullshit-antennae” and there IS someone home in there!!
I type ‘Love’ - I press send – The cold and numb letters kill the meanings upon which the word has survived over the millenniums since the human being started writing.
My phone rings – I press Yes - I listen to the warmest voice ever coming across the world from the very last part of river Nile down to Sudan, Ethiopia and into my ears in my room in Nairobi, Kenya, saying the one word that changes lives and can be the reason that people fight to survive – ‘I LOVE YOU SWEETY’ from my mom in Egypt.
I get off the plane in Cairo – I drive 3 hours to my home town, Alexandria – I run up the stairs – I open the door – and the speaking machines no more exist for they have vanished when the feelings struck the air in the room after my heart saw her heart and my LOVE joined hands with her LOVE.
Yes.. nothing can compare to the sound of the voice, the depth of someone’s eyes, the connection we have with the person we speak with.
We.. human beings feel, touch and comunicate using all the senses we have; loosing any of that can only rob us of the joy of life manifesting itself also in the other human being.
love
Agnieszka
I think that we have lost this contact -warm emotional interaction for quiet a while ,its not just the phone and the machines, emails have replaced letters ,the internet like myspace and msn have given people more contact but not in a real way, its not very personal you can leave messages just floating out there a bit 3 dimensional which is ok -but its always better to take the time and effort to see someone at a counter or get a lovely letter in the mail ..or talk to someone face to face don:t you think ?
How this will affect the future I am not sure ,its only getting more technical everyday with Iphones etc ..I worry though it will make people less social and more introverted . Teenagers these days prefer to text constantly than have a conversation with you then spend time with you . It is separating people in to a world of escapism ..from reality ,then again everything is an illusion anyway ..sooooooooooooo its a bit hard to predict the future ,we can only wait and see what happens .Love Tania :-)
Clearly, technology is reaching us, myself I can not do without it, but many times when I see through the past, I notice that we did the same things that we do today through technology, and I realize that this is something losing, technology turns us cold and distant, and often need the excitement of the old.
I think we definitely need human contact, know well the difference between things that are for machines and the things that are for the human development and not leave everything totechnology.
Clearly, technology is reaching us, myself I can not do without it, but many times when I see through the past, I notice that we did the same things that we do today through technology, and I realize that this is something losing, technology turns us cold and distant, and often need the excitement of the old.
I think we definitely need human contact, know well the difference between things that are for machines and the things that are for the human development and not leave everything to technology.
Not as brilliant as the kafka’s castle, but certainly more gainful…
Hola Paulo,
This is a good question, because it really is affecting many people whether they know it or not. Technology is replacing the action of the human touch. I think about how many people react negatively when touched by someone else. They are not used to it. For me, I can remember writing letters, and sending them in mail to friends. Now, I can’t remember the last time I have hand written a letter to a friend, it’s a foreign concept to me. All is done now through text, videocam, or e-mail. Although it is faster in communicating, it takes away the need to see the person, resulting in forgetting the beauty of touching and seeing that person in real life. It’s the beauty and downfall of technology.
I am still touched and i can still smile - when i remember the different kinds of people and stories and destinys i listened to and became a part of. As an operator.
With the beautiful gift of time. Often. Except for monday mornings :-)
Many lonely crazy hearts called the sweet and human. Voice.
The only one they might have been talking with. For days.
Now - even that - is replaced. IRL (In Real Life)
Today - time is too expensive. Among with………
There is always two sides of a coin though. For some it may be a relief. More than a loss.
Technic can be a tuel to help and get people closer as well as the opposite.
Although,
I believe WE ARE about to loose more and more of human touch, warmth, and the so important. Identity.
We enter more and more - the parallell worlds such as “Second life” for an example,where millions of people spend their time and days, months and years, go to work, go to school, earn money for real,
buy land and houses, creates, date, go to clubs, stores, artgalleris, discos, enjoy themselves, do buisness, get married, have sex and more.
All as. “Perfect” avatars where you can create and buy - your look and clothes. In a virtuell world. All and everything created by. Us. Humans. In time. Many businessmen/industries/artists are testning their new models/work/art - in Second life before. Real life.
Needs and hearts that are hungry. And thirsty. For more. Are many. Where the tribulations of the present society and life. And “love”. Is easier and doesn´t hurt. That much.
On the yellow brick road.
To be or not to be.
Is still.
The question.
Love Ninni <3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r8286teVgc
Greetings Paulo and a honor to do so,
When calling any business here in the U.S. it is very rare to hear an actual human voice answering the phone. When occasionally it does happen, I always reply how nice it is to hear a human voice. I detest the dehumanization of our society and the rapidly developing exchange of the human being with machines and human simulations. What in the world is happening to the human connection…the connectiveness of one to all? What happens when we as a society attempt to replace human beings with automation? What happens to babies deprived of the human touch? Many die.
In my personal automated experiences, I am often led through one maze after another seeking a simple answer. My punishment for bothering to call a company instead of visiting their website seems to be the arthritis settling into my finger as I punch this and that choice; the waste of vast amounts of my precious life span while placed on hold because all agents are presently helping others; endangering my health by raising my rising blood pressure to unchartered highs while listening to endless irritating music, advertising or being told how important my call is; and finally being driven to enroll in anger management classes after disconnecting me as I finally arrive at my destination!
Perhaps a warning should be place on all things automated: WARNING! Automation is dangerous to the well-being of human beings and may prove to be fatal to the human race in time.
Perhaps it is, that in our enthusiasm for technology and the virtual world it supplies, we are forgetting what it is to be truly human, here, present. Not just with ourselves but with others too.
We do not need to inhabit our bodies to use computers and telephones, only our heads. But our heads have a limited communication spectrum. When we rely on these means of communciation too much we neither inhabit our bodies, nor do we expand beyond our mental level to all that we could be.
Service - the desire to reach out and support another, to help them - is not a mental function but a soul impulse that manifests in body and mind where it is transformed into action. The more we rely on ‘virtual’ communication as our principaL means to get things done the more dominant the head becomes and the rest of us withers for lack of nourishment.
Technology has a role to play in this world but it is our responsibility to ensure that what we value about being human and fulfiled in our lives is not eclipsed by it. Technology should never be allowed to become a god.
Love and blessings
Rebecca
Hi Paulo,
I believe we lost the human element when large organisations decided to go global and outsource work abroad. I have worked in many organisations in the UK with the casualities of these scenarios (redundancy). It is sad to see the lack of creativity and decision making that goes hand in hand with this type of expansion. In order for the work to be processed they have strict systems and processes that have to be followed at all times, which dont allow for differing questions and circumstances.
However, on the positive side, at this side of the ocean a lot of people are glad of the redundancy packages in order for them to make life choices they may not have had the luxury or the momentum for doing. Its wonderful to see the choices they make! Having worked in such a process driven environment many people opt for more creative and caring careers which they feel contributes more to society.
. . . slight change in topic ;-)
Personally I would rather ’speak’ to a machine that believed it was a ‘human’, than to a human that behaved (and was expected to behave) like an automaton, (or worse)
How did we become this way? By inherited acceptance
How will this affect our future? I hope that technology advances so much that it overides all necessity for humans to be effectively de-humanised by having to work within the parameters of this type of work;
or,
humans will not be expected to be treated in this way, by Companies whose only aims are profit,(and to try to destroy a persons soul by not allowing them to have a choice, other than put the phone down and then presumably they will get sacked, their families will starve etc., etc.).
There are many futures open to us, moulded by what we choose to accept in our present. (how many people who complain about the process as it is actually write to the Ccompany involved and let them know how unhappy they are about the process).
(that still doesn’t stop me from getting *!!* by the system as it is now though, but I have faith).
Bonjour Paulo, justement je voulais en venir à cela!!
Par exemple lorsque je vous envoi un message sur votre site ce n’est pas vous qui me répondai mais une sorte de messagerie électronique; et en quelque sorte cela risque de fortement changer mon avenir car si mon rêve est de vous rencontrer et que je ne puisse pas avoir de réel contact avec vous mon rêve ne se réalisera certainement pas!!!! Comment dois-je faire pour vous parler????
Vous êtes aimé…
Funny discussion. Funny, how human beings say, that other human beings are “speaking machines”. Sounds neither good nor useful to me.
As a marketing-coach for companies, i will not get tired to help them, killing the (answering)machines and let human and thinking beings do the communication jobs. If necessary then, i help these human beings, to talk like human beings - because they can, if they know, they are allowed to. And then they experience how it feels, when the person on the other end starts to smile, because of their talking and helping and finding a solution. It feels great!
Thank you ever so much for this video, Paulo. It’s so very important to adress such things and especially warm greetings from a human being in Heidelberg, Helge
It is a good topic that we are loosing a contact from human warmth and human being in real form. The machine is getting us far from where we are now, it is taking us in different place. It gives a different feeling when some one is in front of me-sitting and we are sipping a cup of coffee together but once we are far from the person and we use the machine as our medium to communicate then it become difficult.
A sense of different feelings are generated, it is not good in many of the terms and it has to be changed. One of the research projects that I am working on currently is to understand the behavior of humans with regard to technology. Many of the times we feel frustrated when the machine does not work and many of the times we feel really stressfully by its usage too much.
As the time is changing people are changing, there were times when social gatherings and get together were very common but these are the times when many of my friends or relatives would like to sit in chat room and talk or rather send me application invites in Face book or just some stupid Web pages. These has to be changed and the next direction of putting an impact on human lives would be something different, a different taste of machine not as a medium but as a mediator or I would call a teacher or helper to make a reality success.
Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that Technology and human interaction with it has to go just like a child catches the hand of his father then only it would be possible for better interaction.
Funny that you mention this now as I am one of those real human voices in the other end of the phone - after the poor user have chosen several times in the menu-djungels…
With the risc of repeating what others might have written before, (I prefer to write without being influenced by earlier comments) - I think this is connected with money.
A machine or robot cost less than a human… so this is made to save money. Effectiveness…speed… but humans don’t think like machines therefor sometimes the cost can be higher than if the service had been human directly…
and how will it affect us in the future? well, we’re already there… We’re so used to this instant speed that waiting any longer than 5 seconds is an annoyance. Annoyed, irritated, impolite, rude - without any hesistance the poor person I finally reach gets it all in her ear.
We have come a far away from the family with grandparents together with grandchildren sitting together around the central fire in the house, telling stories and teaching about life. And we miss it. You see it in the behaviour… of the non-reactions, on the violence, on the lack of understanding and empathy… When you get really surprised that a stranger is friendly and helpfull… although that should not be a surprise at all!?
We need to step of the “quantity-train” and change to the “quality-train”, maybe then….
Gracias Paulo por tocar este tema.
Las empresas abarantan sus gastos mecanizando el sistema y por experiencia sé que la gente se queja de no tener un trato personal, alguien que le escuche cual es su problema que le de una trato amable y le aporte una solución. Esto a la larga perjudica a las empresas que utilizan este método ya que los clientes amenazan con irse a otra compañía y tal y como están las cosas con tanta competencia, Empresa que no mime a sus clientes empresa que tiene un pronóstico asegurado:”Fracaso”.
I often have the same expirences. Sometimes you just want to talk to a person, and a person who thinks on their own and can actually help you.
But it is easier for companies to set up automated systems that answer 90% of the calls they receive. It is cheaper than paying someone to sit and answer the phones, and also faster for the customers becuase they do not need to wait for someone to get off the phone, the automated system can handle hundreds of people at once.
We also deal with the automated people. Those who give the same answers no matter what you ask. I consider this an automated system as well. I actaully was told a great story about this once. This guy I knew had a flight from New York to California for a very important business meeting. He called that morning just to confirm his flight for 9 am, and was told by the person at the airline that there was no flight from NY to California at 9 am. Of course this guy panicked, he was now going to be late for this meeting if he had to take a much later flight. He asked the person on the phone what was the next possible flight he get on. She replied that there was a flight from NY to California leaving at 9:02 am that morning.
But in some ways I think as technology takes over our lives we are all apart of this. Think about it…when was the last time you sent an e-mail instead of calling someone? When was the last time you bought something online instead of going into the store? Basically, when was the last time you did something that resulted in avoiding human contact?
It always seems easier to do it this way. I can type an e-mail in 60 seconds, but a phone call with take 10 minutes. But is really better?
We are loosing that contact with each other slowly. Human contact has been an important part of our civilization since we started on this planet. But we are learning to get away from it.
We need to go back to it. Pick up the phone and call someone. Go down to the store to buy something. Go to a friends house instead of chatting with him online. It all starts here with each individual.
Paulo ! my aging freind !
what to speak of machines which talk; many humans in flesh & blood behave like talking machines ! ( like me here -) )
jokes apart ! u r right ! in all the obsession with techlogy, humans are indeed becomming less human ! TV killed the society; sometimes people hear of a neighbourer when they hear in news. Of course technology has been ‘useful’ too.
I wonder what would the plight of us be, if suppose we loose all communication system for say three days ( some massive solar disturbance etc ). maybe it’s a good idea to shut down all TV channels, most forms of communication on sunday.
One must remember, that when we are using even most sophisticated comminication devises, 99.99 % time we are using only 1 or at most 2 of our senses; no communication device can give sensory inputs to all the senses combined !
ooops sorry a mistake
it’s not even 2 senses we are using but 1 and 1/2 only. even if we cosnider sterophonic sound, the visuals are mostly only 2 d, they lack the crucial depth !! technology induced expereinces lack depth !
it’s just that the other end of the line are not our family so they dont really care what is bothering us. they just want to finish their jobs then go home then start this boring routine again. There’s no passion or any enjoyment onto it. I understand with this kind of job (solving people problem) would not be so sastifying but if anyone who put creativity in it i guess it;s make the whole thing alright.
if i may sir, Plesae think everyone else as a member of your family or friend. Please share the love that u have to other people.
THe world is so nice to live in.
=)
Esta es fácil: cuando nos dejaron de importar las personas.
Nos olvidamos de que los negocios son relaciones y no solo dinero.
Without doubt we must pay a price for comfort.But we are those who organize things,so everything can be done in an balanced manner,not exagerating in none of the directions.It drives me crazy when I need assistance and i receive only answers to problems I have not,and nothing that can help me.This I hate,waiting on line while they put to me some stupid little music,when I need add,they think they entertain me.Wrong answer.
Hello Paulo,
that makes me think about a saying by Moondog which is : “Men were lions and machine were mice, once upon a time, since it’s the opposite it’s twice upon a time.”
Love
Damien
It is pitty to see how more and more, especialy young people are turning towards talking machines.
There are no human beings that are machines as somebody earlier wrote. They are people who for some reason have built the fence arround their soul, and we are not probing deep enough or are not interested enough or we have no time ….
By choice I do not use such services, if I do call I ask for operator and name of person who answers to me, every single time even if it takes few seconds more. It gives me pleasure to say: Thank you Marija, Frano, Ivana…for your help, and have a nice day !
And I mean it.
But then I am one who writes real postcards
in spite they are slow to come and they cost more than e-mail. Somehow the trace of pencil in handwriting on paper I choose make me believe brings part of me to recepient.
I read for years lots of science fiction books, I still read them, but I never thought machines will catch up with humans in so short time.
So as long as there is still possibility to speak to real persons I will do it, even if it costs comodity !
Luce
ahhhhh the lovely service of voice recorded customer service; makes me feel all warm and cozy LOL!
Soon as I dial my bank, credit card company, phone company, job…. the fist thing i do is press 0 (operator) so I can speak directly to a HUMAN!
I don’t think i can ever get use to the process of pressing 1 enter your code press 2 enter code…… finally you hang up due to you going around in circles never being able to get the service you wanted.
then when you do speak to a REAL person you have to make sure to be overly polite so you can make sure you get top quality customer service (as if). Its like THEY are the customer and YOU are providing ther service.
Over all sometimes it feels like its a no win situation.
Hummmmmmm ????
Falsely Banned from Neighborhood bookstore as Prepare to buy Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir
Around 7.30 this evening, I worked into an Arlington VA, Barnes and Nobles intending to check out some interesting titles and if enticed enough make a purchase. My first stop was the bathroom which was on the second/upstairs floor of the store. I came out of the bathroom, found the shelves with the fictions titles and picked out Paulo Ceolho’s, (my favorite authors), The Zahir, which was highly recommended by one of my good friend. I browsed around for a few more minutes then proceeded to ground floor of the store. Their I found the sections with journals. They had quite a few selections with leather backs and embroidery so I took my time finding the next journal to house my ever growing lyrics. As I checked out each journal trying to find one that works for me, a young lady walked up asking if she could be of help. I mention I as okay with a smile and mentioned that I had difficulty finding the perfect one of of their assorted collection. I even tried making so small talk about a beautiful journal I had bought but refused to write in it.. With a very cold response, she said “that is what they are made for”. I smiled though I could feel some not so positive energy behind me as she rearrange the shelves. as I continue to be indecisive about what journal to buy, another lady came up asking for some kind of graph paper booklet. Your employee mention she’d worked at the store for some time and your stores does not carry that product. The female customer said thanks turned around and immediately reached for booklet she was look for on shelve beside me. She showed it to your employee and said “Just incase another customer comes asking for this…”, your employee started to apologies, stating she misunderstood the lady’s initial request.
I settle on journal then proceeded to the magazine rack. Upon approaching the racks, the latest edition of “Wax Poetic” magazine with a very young Herbie Hancock on the cover caught my eye . I picked it up, grab a sit like I’ve done so many time and began to slip through it. For what seem like 10 minutes, I drowned my attention into the magazine then I noticed two figured walking towards me. I looked up with an intent to say hi or give one of does inviting faces but to my surprise it was two police (Man and Woman) officers obviously coming for me.
Before I could ask what was going on, the male officer mentioned that there have been a history of shoplifting in the store and ask to see my ID. He also mentioned the store manger wants me banned from the store. I raised up to ask what is really the confusion, that’s when I was threaten to sit back down or get cuffed. I’ve never worn those things before, so I sat back down trying trying to minimize the already embarrassing situation.
I awaited for the return of my ID as the male officer wrote me up on document titled “Notice Forbidding Trespassing” which I refused to sign, the female officer monitored me. She was especially vigilant as I pulled my cell out of my pocket, she seemed a bit ready for what I could be reaching for in my pocket . At the end of the charade I was banned from ever coming into the Barnes & Noble in Claredon, Arlington VA on the ground of suspicion for shoplifting. The work of shame to my car was one of longest walk considering I was parked only a short block over.
At the end of it all. I got back home and found a parcel in my mailbox from a friend contain Paulo Ceolho’s “The Zahir”, the same book I intended to buy before my falsely eviction from the store. Their is natural mystic in the air for real, absolute truth is definitely beyond human intellect. As I begin to read my new book, I open myself to the unknown.
Okay the big question is, first, how do I define what happened to me, and how do I go about doing something about it. For one, I need to get my name out of the police record.
I’m looking forward to the day when we each have our own personal machines that are intelligent enough to make the calls/press the right options/wait indefinitely etc on our behalf …then we can simply leave the machines to it & spend more time reading your books :)
I think it is wrong to say that the people on the other end of the phone line when calling a support function do not care. Please do not generalize.
I was on hold today for 20 minutes. When I finally reached the person, he was extremely helpful, full of enthusiasm and I could sense the smile and warmth.
So my point is - It might be that there a people with the Light on the other end of the line and they enjoy their line of work:-)
It is so pity we have lost this human contact, this warmth..i think more and more people are becoming inhumanised…we have lost the meaning of the word ‘human’..you dont necessarily have to speak to a machine to feel you are talking to a wall..people are imitating machines..they wake up, like turning power on, do their job at their work, like machines that are programmed to act in a certain way, totally without emotions, and at night they turn the power off..and so on..furthermore, people have lost their connection with nature..they no longer wish to go for a walk, or run in the country, instead they prefer to run like mice in a treadmill..we are living in a world of machines, i think that is the fact..and the future seems bleak..where have all the feelings gone?? maybe there where we left our innocence on the way, our enthousiasm, our life…when we prefered to live like ghosts..like machines..and forgot how beautiful can be life
Love and Graditude
Annie
We can’t deny that every single one of us is benefiting from the surrounding technology and progress in a way or another , but also , we did not expect that progress to replace us!!
We wanted to contact our friends and families abroad , and so we did , but because it became easy and quick and available , it lost it’s magic and warmth .
We are always seeking to save time , save money , be efficient , and succeed in life , but in doing so , we forgot what life really means , and we forgot to enjoy it .
It is important for us to remember the technology is a tool… it is good for some things and not for others. Just as a hammer is good to put something together or take it apart but if you wanted to cook with it like a spatula it would not work. I have enjoyed some technological advances and they have allowed me to accomplish things that I may not have such as finding long lost friends on the internet. I don’t think we need to depend on it to the point that some do. I hope that one day we will begin to find a balance. I think our world today is overwhelmed by it and finds the easiness of it a way out. That is why I make a point to use it in moderation. Whether I get the answer I want or not, I will always prefer a human over a machine. Peace to all.
Here I sit, on my front porch, laptop whirring, fingers flying across the keyboard, pondering the question and all the comments that connect me in some unseen way to all of you who have written here. There is something good that can be said of a technological advance that allows us to gather and speak our minds and learn a little from each other here in what I call “cyberspace”. However, I often feel this type of connection to be a bit disorienting. I think of how we now form our “online communities” with humans, sitting alone somewhere and communicating non-verbally through words that basically now travel soundlessly through the air. There are so many things missing in this form of communication: subtle nuances of voice inflection and tone, body movement and facial expressions, to name a few. With online discourse there is definitely a disconnection at a more primal level.
Do I want to go back to a pre-computerized time? No, not especially…except in those rare and truly frustrating times when something mechanical malfunctions in my technological appliances and I have to deal with too many automated “screening” services. Oh, to hear the sound of a human voice, even if it is only to sympathize with the problem and explain that he is only the night janitor who answered the call by accident because he was dusting the buttons on the phone, and he is oh so sorry but would be happy to write a message for you and leave it with the technician who will answer my call sometime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern time tomorrow! Argh! Well, at least it would be a voice, no?
Nobody wants to work hard anymore, why should we with such advanced technology that enables us with more free time to do so many other things?. Convenience is what makes us lazy. We lost touch with our neighbours because we have so many gadgets at home to keep us entertained. It takes effort to bond with people or even to say “hello how are you?”. Machines are practical and does the job for us and that is easier than us dealing with emotions. We are smart for so many inventions, but inventing more ideas for convenience results to lazyness and in a world that needs our help right now more than ever, all those geniuses are not helping much.
I guess those operating systems that replace true human interaction can help corporates save much money in employing staff to receive phone calls. However it is a waste of time for the customers who call up to the corporation because he/she has to listen to the long instructions before they can select which button they should press on, and they could only seek what they need after pressing many buttons…. in the meantime they are forced to listen to various promotional messages… All customers hate such customer service. I don’t know why corporates still glad to use it despite they all want to raise their corporate image and the satisfaction of customers
Its the human that created the machine. Machines are merely humanmade.
I used to be one of those person who answers the phone on the other side of the line.
I had on average 40 to 60 calls a day, so it was hard to give full attention to each person.
However I used to connect as a human being to one person every 15-20 calls, because they were more friendly, or different, or they asked question about me, or we could connect on a small detail.
Most people expect a professional answer to their specific problem, they don’t want to chat around or make jokes, so it’s hard to do that because we don’t know exactly what the other wants. We start with a neutral-professional tone and adapt from there.
After all, communication involves 2 persons, so if you can’t connect it’s not only because of the other one ;)
I think this kind of services are the most boring and annoying ones I’ve ever seen.
I’m a very patient person, but everytime I have to face this machines I lose the patience. It’s like a test for my ability to be patient.
Corporates try to practical using this machines, but it’s a waste of time for the costumers.
And yes…I think that in ten years time we will be talking with cold machines! Oh my…
I think this kind of services are the most boring and annoying ones I’ve ever seen.
I’m a very patient person, but everytime I have to face this machines I lose the patience. It’s like a test for my ability to be patient.
Corporates try to be practical using this machines, but it’s a waste of time for the costumers.
And yes…I think that in ten years time we will be talking with cold machines! Oh my…
i sent a text message to my friend at her birthday because she ever hardly answers her phone and i myself did not want to leave a message on the answering machine. since i wanted her to read it that day i sent it instead of an email. yesterday (ten days later) i got to know that she was really sad because i forgot her birthday. “damnit” - no one needs that and then i realize again how important it is to talk to each other. even though a lot of people greet via text message or email i will quit doing so of today and talk and talk and talk….
i addressed this very question in my own blog here: http://1afrika.blogspot.com/search/label/bureaucracy
and i think humanity was lost with the rise of modern bureaucracy but we will find balance again one day … because we are all suffering from the globalization of this modern idea … and more will probably suffer before we figure it out …
I am studing social sciencis and I work wiht persons with quite serious mental healt issues. As a socialworker I want be able to avoid sounding like some book that I have read at school because many of my clients had said that all they need is real things and relationships. I think we are loosing humanity in our actions and that makes as unhappy of our being. So I am very affaird of we are going to be the machines our selves - in a long run there is no need for robots, we are going to act like ones.
wiht love
Teija
Why are we supposed to live? ..and follow the rules given by institutions? I do not think I can cope with this anymore.. was even considering the suicide..
..even now
I think that in our quest to be faster, better and more efficient, we lost the human element along the way. Everything is about making life simpler, easier, efficient, when in reality we have become cheaper, lesser and worse. Look at fast food restaurants - the premise being getting food fast but in reality the quality is gone. We don’t write letters we email. We don’t pick up the phone we text. We “book” dates and dinners and friends. I find that so sad. I spent a year travelling in Asia and for the first time in my life I didn’t have any technology with me. No cell phone, no email, only postcards and letters and payphones to call home. It was so refreshing. I miss human contact. Instead of banking online, I still go into my branch to do transactions. Instead of emailing, I still send letters. I read books. I listen to CDs instead of MP3s … I miss the good old days when you needed (and wanted) the human element of every day existance.
It’s very late here where I am, close to 1:00 a.m. I just returned home from a day spent with one of my daughters and thought I would check in for a moment and read what you all have said since my visit here last night. I’m so seldom here and so was a little surprised by Martina’s reply.
I’m a little confused about this reply and wonder if I am reading it correctly and do I step in and say something that I know is way off the subject of human vs technology of which we’ve been discussing. But after a moment of reflection, I decide yes, as I am human, after all. One cannot remain the “observer” only and not offer something, even if it is only words to think about. And that is my choice for this evening. I wanted to say something to Martina: You are here for a reason, as we all are. Sometimes you know why, other times you don’t. But never for one single moment doubt that there is a reason.
Also, realize that there are more ways than one to cope with life. Seek help when you need it and explore all options. You must know that there is always more than just one choice. (even choosing not to make a choice IS a choice)
If, on the chance that I’ve read your reply here incorrectly, please forgive me. I am, as I mentioned earlier, only human.
Dear Martina, don’t follow the rules of institutions, live your life, your dream and believe that like all of us, you haven a pre-destined path, which for none of us includes the act of suicide. As Paulo reconfirmed many times (and based on a statement by Borges in one of his books) bravery is expected of us when walking our path, but bravery does not mean the absence of fear. The warrior of light is brave, but not fearless. I don’t know where you live, so it’s hard to imagine your political circumstances, but in the western world we do have a choice and we must make use of it. If you live “your” life, you will feel better about it, and you should be grateful to have been blessed with it. I wish you strength, courage and enlightenment. Love, Paul (from Austria)
martina !
now that u are contemplating anyway what is the hurry !! take your time dear, why don’t you read paulo’s veronica decides to die ! before u die, for a few days let your mind die ! don’t beleive anything it tells u ! mind sometimes gets confused, or to put it more accurately mind is confusion ( brain is a bilogocial necessity, but not mind, and certainly not always !, mostly.
love
aditya
Hi Paulo (this time I’ll write in english), I work at an house rental’s office in São Paulo. And we all in here are very used to automatic answers when calling to the light and the water company. It’s all completly automatic, and the person that finally (after 30 minutes of wait) talks to you just like a robot, talks with a cold and distant voice. I guess everybody really hate it.
but has a “not that bad” side, all that is a attempt to make the services faster and solve the clients’ issue even faster, of course a little bit of “souls” on the other side of the line wouldn’t hurt anybody. this way I guess a sentence I have read somewhere ,make itself true ” on the past, people were apart by distant but always when reunions came seemed that no one has ever left each other. now a days people have contact almost 24 hours per day with everyone at any part of the globe but people never been that far from each other before.” this is very sad but if we don’t do something the future will be even colder….
XOXO Karla
I phoned to cancel my son’s lost visa card today - he was dashing around Florence back-tracking and then making a quick dash to get to his bank before it closed.
I answered computerised questions,listened to repetitive, pleasant music for quite some time, cancelled the call evenutally and tried again later, to once more, answer the same questions and listen to the same piece of music, that would not have been my choice, but which I can now say wansn’t too unpleasant. I did relax during this time and didn’t fight or complain about todays’ systems.
Eventually, a very pleasant man answered me and after going through all the usual palava of security questions, he cancelled the card, checked the account for loss, said a new card had been issued and thanked me for my patience in waiting and wished me a happy day.
My son, answered the usual questions in the bank. Produced all the necessary documentation for proof of his identity and was asked to wait a little while and was given a new card.
So in the light of the new systems and technology of today, today my son and I dealt with a trying situation and made the acquaintance of two capable, professional and very polite employees in two banking systems.
Times change but I suppose as long as we change with them and happily then time just continues to move forward and so must we.
I love your site, your blog, your books - God Bless you and your family.
And all the readers.
Janice x
I am skeptical about what we actually want for our future and what’s being plan for it by… the third parties. To be honest with you I’m a firm believer of human kindness, of human nature. I believe we humans are good beings at heart, beings that love to play, beings that like to feel been a part of something bigger than themselves and beings that rejoice sharing time with one another. J.J. Rousseau said in his book ‘The Social Contract’ that men is born to this world uncorrupted and good, then civilization corrupts him. We sort of have a paradox here, since men and civilization are so closely relate it… but only one comes prior.
Mediatization and automatization are two different things, and in today’s era one is been used to excuse the other. Since the agricultural revolution some 10,000 years ago, to this date, logistics and planification have been a most efficient tool that has helped our public relations to leap into the 20th century and it’s traumatic post-modernism. Now, when unemployment is sky rocketed and economics are at fault, we want to automatize job positions like telephones operators. The irony is beyond me.
Trial and error, the war economics, inflation, digitalism, unforgiving climate, and soon robots… all of which seem to have the potential to displace us, the poor, the ignorant, the meek (Paulo, fear not, your hundred thousand copies of books sold world wide have saved you from kingdom come).
Automatization is a weapon of technology for when there are no more slaves to toy around with.
It is a very valid and important speculation in these days to think about humans and machines. My experience with the issue of customer service comes from both sides. I have been, at one opoint in my life, the training agent of a customer service department where I used to train the agents how to reply to customers, and I, myself, recorded the IVR system messages (it is ironic that it is called Interactive Voice Response System (IVR)!) where I used to say to the caller, “please press 1″ …etc
I think, there is always a human factor even in machines. The messages were recorded by me, and once I got sick and I couldn’t record an updated message and asked somebody else to do it in my place, my boss when hearing the message, immediately called from overseas and asked for a re-recording session with my voice even if I were sick because it is not what he wanted, even though she spoke very well and she said the words that I was supposed to sayy, but for him it was still not what he was looking for. So that maybe proves that there is a human energy in everything. After all mahcines are created by us!
When I used to train the customer service department, I used to ask them to “smile” when answering somebody because it is true that the caller can not see your smile, but he or she can “hear” it!
On the other hand, I was once in a visit to Dubai and I have sent a donation through Paypal to a charity organization but they were experiencing problems in retrieving the money. I emailed Paypal customer service many times with no reply, and so I decided to call them an international call from Dubai to the USA to resolve the problem. I spent around 40 minutes trying to explain the situation and convincing the representative that I’m not receiving any reply from them by email and the charity cannot withdraw the money, to no avail! The agent kept repeating a sentence that he learnt from his supervisor which insists that Paypal answers all emails and maybe their email has gone to my “spam folder” that is why I “think” that I didn’t receive any reply from them! I kept repeating that I check my spam folder regularly, but he just refused to hear me, he was just repeating his words like a machine!
So what is my stance on this issue? I think machines can never replace human beings unless we choose to become one! If we choose to become so distanced from others, then it is our choice, our responsibility not anybody else’s. We chose to turn a blind eye on somebody else’s needs. It is not the fault of the machines. Anything material is a sword with two blades, you choose how to use it, and you define its destiny.
o hullo and a very big hi to u i did not even know that this site existed.very very happy to hve found u here. the blogs r such a blessing.
People are not becoming speaking machines, we’re all simply losing touch with ourselves. As technology advances, it’s easy to let it do things for you. It allows people a way out of complexity, something I think we all look to escape until we have the courage to embrace it.
It frees you of responsibility and for those services you speak of, when you finally reach a person, that person speaks on behalf of a company which also, believes evasiveness is the best policy. i.e. The less people know the better, the fewer questions to answer, the better. The safer. The less complex everything will be.
The truth is, every conversation with another person can easily become a challenge. Automation provides relief from possibly complex situations and machines, with no heart, mind, belief, emotion, have no knowledge of complexity.
So no, people aren’t speaking machines, the majority have just stopped allowing other people to present them with challenges, because challenges expose us to ourselves- our abilities, possibilities, in-competencies, weaknesses, and people would rather not think of such things. The farther we get into technology, the more we are removed from ourselves.
But technology is the future, and as much as I dislike typing because it doesn’t allow me to see myself in my handwriting, here I am, typing because I have no choice.
The disappearance of things that connect us to our humanity like handwriting papers, reading a book in your hand, speaking to a live person, running outside, they’re all symptoms of the same thing.
Things that connect us to our humanity, when done well, are always a challenge and are always more complex than most people anticipate or desire. But complexity is a far more beautiful thing than we like to admit.
If losing touch with yourself makes you a speaking machine, then you’re right. But losing touch with yourself makes you worse than a machine because human beings, unlike machines, are not made to be numb/ unfeeling/ simple.
Janice, a wonderful true story, and your point about changing with the times is so pertinent. I guess it’s popularly known as “going with the flow”.
May I take the opportunity of complimenting you for the calm & human way in which you dealt with both machines & people alike regarding your son’s predicament. A lesson indeed, about not making a mountain out of a mole hill (which only makes things worse ;)