Have we outsmarted our need for human connection?

​Research shows that the more empathy a patient feels from their medical doctor, the better the outcomes they report from their treatment with that doctor.

Additionally, research also shows that the more empathy a doctor demonstrates for their patients, the less likely it is that doctor will experience burnout.

(https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/.../should_we_train...)

But is that just a doctor patient thing? Is that not true of any relationship?

Is it not true of pastor and congregation?

Is it not true of supervisor and team?

Is it not true of romantic relationships and friendships?

Is it not true of father and son and mother and daughter?

Is it not true that no matter how much I know, what I know loses its value the more I'm incapable of connecting with you and communicating that I see and feel your struggles?

In a world that is intent on innovating our way out of struggles, intent on gaining knowledge that will make extinct our hardships, people are disappearing in the midst of them.

Are we more intelligent and yet at the same time more disconnected than we've ever been? I mean, is it possible we've become too smart for human relationships?

And is it also possible that platforms like the one I'm writing on right now are using our longing for human relationships to feed us knowledge that only serves to make us more disconnected?

I don't know. I don't. But I do believe, in the grand scheme of things, it feels like we're on a journey to know more about the world around us than the people beside us.

I believe it largely comes with good intention; we all want a better world. But what if the research is right?

What if a better world starts with me feeling like you see me and me feeling like I see you?

What if a better world is less innovating and more integrating?

Integrating you and me.

If we have really outsmarted human connection, it might be time to start dumbing down the world a little bit. At least to the point where we all fully know the value of you and me.

Maybe then we truly will be smarter than we've ever been.