What’s is up with our hippocampus these days?

The hippocampus  is a region in our brain that ostensibly helps people tell whether an object is near or far.  Considering that I walk into walls and chairs all the time, I have a feeling my hippocampus is a little. off.   I am thinking, however, that the hippocampus is a little off for many people these days.  See, recent research has found that the hippocampus may also tell people how emotionally close they feel to others and how they rank them socially. Basically, it determines your social distance from others. Now this would be all good and dandy in the old days when friendships really involved work and support.  Nowadays, everyone is everyone’s friend.  Once Facebook came onto the scene, our collective hippocampus must have gone into overtime and overdrive.  Think about all those people trying to become friends with a 1000 others. You meet someone at a conference, you become Facebook friends. You meet someone at the bus stop you become Facebook friends.  The hippocampus needs a breather!

Our streets are wired with telecommunication lines that bind us ever more tightly everyday. We carry chargers, two and three ta a time for all our devices. Our carry on bags no longer carry clothes but instead have electronics so that we are always in touch with someone, anyone, at any time.

Let’s think about what we are  saying everyday.  What does our hippocampus face on a daily basis?

Posted a photo. Posted a witty meme. Tweeted a snappy comeback we would have loved to have told the idiot on the train. Posted a ten minute video on Youtube. Posted a 6 second video elsewhere.

Read a few Facebook posts, liked a a few of those. Posted on Facebook in return. Waited to see who liked the post.

Like.  Share.  Retweet. Vote up. Vote down. Comment.

Reply. Like comments. Reply to your own reply.

Eat while reading reviews. Wake up with phone in hand. Face marked at night by the iPad cover’s striations.

Twenty second street stops have become communication pit stops.

LOL. SMH.  This is what we have become.

What are we saying anymore? What do even want to say anymore? Do we care? Do we just want to say something? Will anything do?

Does our hippocampus need some time off? Most assuredly it does.