When was the last time you had a conversation with someone, without worrying about who’s texting you, without getting the urge to take a snap, without hearing the buzz or ring of a cell phone?

In today’s day and age it is nearly impossible to have a conversation with someone without technology interfering in some way. This may seem harmless, but the repercussions of this are startling and it is essential for us to take note of it to preserve vital aspects of our everyday lives.

There has never been a more revolutionary explosion of something like there has been with technology; with technological advancement comes endless expansion and opportunity and it has resulted in medical advancements that save lives, weapon advancement that wins wars, and devices that connect you to the whole world by just clicking a screen.

We are living in a society where life expectancy has no limits thanks to medication and systems that prevent the spread of illnesses and that terminate them permanently. We live in a society where we don’t constantly have to worry about national security thanks to machines that are constantly scanning for threats. We live in a society where we never have to say goodbye because right when someone leaves, we can pick up the phone and they’re right next to us again. Here lies the problem;  our perception of being personally connected and “interacting” through cell phones are leading to the deterioration of the human connection.

The human connection is the most valuable virtue we hold, yet today we do not see it in that way; we view human connection as an obligation to our survival, it is with the mindset that people just put in the bare minimum within relationships to just get by. We miss the world when our eyes are glued to our screens, we miss the acts of kindness that happen all the time, we miss the old lady who needs help crossing the street. We miss out on so much without even knowing because we always believe we’re in the loop by constantly being on our phones.

The truth is that you are never more present then you are when you put the phone down, take the headphones out, and just appreciate everyone around you. If you still believe that there is no difference between over the phone communication and face to face, this statistic is sure to change your mind. Ninety percent of what we are trying to say is non verbal, sixty percent is visual, (facial expressions and body language) thirty percent is how we are saying it, (attitude and tone) and finally the last ten percent of what we are trying to say is the actual content that we are talking about.

So the next time you feel connected to someone through technology think of that ninety percent that actually makes a conversation.