Comments on: E-mail, Snail Mail, and the Golden Age of Letters http://www.danielgoleman.info/2007/11/11/e-mail-snail-mail-and-the-golden-age-of-letters/ Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence, Ecological Intelligence Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:54:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: miriam http://www.danielgoleman.info/2007/11/11/e-mail-snail-mail-and-the-golden-age-of-letters/comment-page-1/#comment-359 miriam Sat, 01 Dec 2007 02:46:01 +0000 http://www.danielgoleman.info/blog/2007/11/11/e-mail-snail-mail-and-the-golden-age-of-letters/#comment-359 I'm sure those are the reasons for the difference between e-mail and letters. But the Blackberry doesn't deserve all the blame for the hasty, cursory reading of e-mail. Even the regular computer is no match for the hectic pace of life today. But the $64 question remains: Why have educated people, who supposedly have a sense of history, forgotten that there ever was such a thing as the letter. Because it isn't just you, Dr. Goleman. This past April, Robert Wright wrote in the New York Times that first there was in-person conversation, then there was the telephone, and now there's e-mail. You'd think that whoever invented e-mail invented writing as well. So again I ask: What is it about the electronic age that has caused so many of us to lose our memories? I’m sure those are the reasons for the difference between e-mail and letters. But the Blackberry doesn’t deserve all the blame for the hasty, cursory reading of e-mail. Even the regular computer is no match for the hectic pace of life today.

But the $64 question remains: Why have educated people, who supposedly have a sense of history, forgotten that there ever was such a thing as the letter. Because it isn’t just you, Dr. Goleman. This past April, Robert Wright wrote in the New York Times that first there was in-person conversation, then there was the telephone, and now there’s e-mail. You’d think that whoever invented e-mail invented writing as well.

So again I ask: What is it about the electronic age that has caused so many of us to lose our memories?

]]> By: A Victim of Instant Messaging http://www.danielgoleman.info/2007/11/11/e-mail-snail-mail-and-the-golden-age-of-letters/comment-page-1/#comment-358 A Victim of Instant Messaging Sun, 25 Nov 2007 07:30:54 +0000 http://www.danielgoleman.info/blog/2007/11/11/e-mail-snail-mail-and-the-golden-age-of-letters/#comment-358 I just thought of something. I suspect people usually treat email and instant messaging as a substitue to face-to-face communication. It feels like face-to-face too, because of instant replies and so on. That cannot be said for letters. You are also right, I feel, about the destractions and the multi-tasking that people engage in nowadays when emailing, compared to writing letters in the past. Letters, as you said, were more considered, and the writer has to have some skills in writing to evoke emotions in the reader. That's a deliberate attempt - otherwise it would be a boring read. Face-to-face flows naturally, there are no drafts, and the skill set is completely different. It's easy for people to misunderstand each other when writing. For example, there's only one difference between "i'm not in love with you" and "i'm in love with you". Three letters: that's the only difference. Yet the difference in meaning is HUGE :-s. That's pretty worriying. What would the other person think if you miss out those three important letters by mistake - especially if the stakes are high? You cannot make the same mistake face-to-face - not easily anyway. Even if you did, it's not as permenant. When instant messaging, there's NO WAY TO TELL what the other person in thinking or feeling. You're gonna have to use your imagintation and take their word for it. It's worse if you never met them before face-to-face. Best regards Yousuf I just thought of something. I suspect people usually treat email and instant messaging as a substitue to face-to-face communication. It feels like face-to-face too, because of instant replies and so on. That cannot be said for letters. You are also right, I feel, about the destractions and the multi-tasking that people engage in nowadays when emailing, compared to writing letters in the past. Letters, as you said, were more considered, and the writer has to have some skills in writing to evoke emotions in the reader. That’s a deliberate attempt – otherwise it would be a boring read. Face-to-face flows naturally, there are no drafts, and the skill set is completely different.

It’s easy for people to misunderstand each other when writing. For example, there’s only one difference between “i’m not in love with you” and “i’m in love with you”. Three letters: that’s the only difference. Yet the difference in meaning is HUGE :-s. That’s pretty worriying. What would the other person think if you miss out those three important letters by mistake – especially if the stakes are high? You cannot make the same mistake face-to-face – not easily anyway. Even if you did, it’s not as permenant. When instant messaging, there’s NO WAY TO TELL what the other person in thinking or feeling. You’re gonna have to use your imagintation and take their word for it.

It’s worse if you never met them before face-to-face.

Best regards

Yousuf

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