And, in the 1970s & 80s, if you were together in a room with your 10 real friends, odds are that at least 9 of them were actively engaged in some form of meanin

And, in the 1970s & 80s, if you were together in a room with your 10 real friends, odds are that at least 9 of them were actively engaged in some form of meaningful social interaction. In 2011, 4 of them would be checking email, texting, twittering on their smartphones, another 3 are playing Angry Birds, 3 are talking about an insipid reality TV show that they watch in order to avoid contemplating their empty isolated existences, and 1 is waxing nostalgic about how, circa 1982, people used to have genuinely meaningful conversations and how intrinsically rewarding that was. Not all that glitters is gold, including technology.