In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the Archbishop of Westminster also voiced his concerns about the loss of loyalty and the rise of individualism in British society which he said threatened to undermine communities. He picked out footballers for acting like “mercenaries” and expressed his fears over moves to relax laws on assisted suicide.
He said that relationships are already being weakened by the decline in face-to-face meetings and conversations over the phone.
“I think there’s a worry that an excessive use or an almost exclusive use of text and emails means that as a society we’re losing some of the ability to build interpersonal communication that’s necessary for living together and building a community.
“We’re losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person’s mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point.
“Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanises what is a very, very important part of community life and living together.”
The archbishop blamed social network sites for leaving children with impoverished friendships.
Read it all.
Telegraph: Facebook and MySpace can lead children to commit suicide, warns Archbishop Nichols
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the Archbishop of Westminster also voiced his concerns about the loss of loyalty and the rise of individualism in British society which he said threatened to undermine communities. He picked out footballers for acting like “mercenaries” and expressed his fears over moves to relax laws on assisted suicide.
He said that relationships are already being weakened by the decline in face-to-face meetings and conversations over the phone.
“I think there’s a worry that an excessive use or an almost exclusive use of text and emails means that as a society we’re losing some of the ability to build interpersonal communication that’s necessary for living together and building a community.
“We’re losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person’s mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point.
“Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanises what is a very, very important part of community life and living together.”
The archbishop blamed social network sites for leaving children with impoverished friendships.
Read it all.