Progress?

“...without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress’ sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering.” -Dolores J. Umbridge, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix   

There is no question we have progressed telephonically. 

I remember coming home from soccer practice and my mother would tell me of any messages from friends.

I later remember when answering machines came into vogue and rushing home to see if any one called. 

Then the answering machine got absorbed into the phone itself with voicemail. But you still had to get to a phone to check for any possible messages.

And now we have smartphones in our pockets.

We can be reached instantly; at work, at the ballpark, at the mall, on the john.

Progress.

Or is it?

Article after article has been written on how smartphones are affecting relationships.

Any relationship; parent/child, friends, partners, etc.

1. Parents checking up on children and children feeling a loss of independence-clashes ensue;
2. Conversations between friends get interrupted leading to hurt feelings and misunderstandings;
3. Partners being suspicious of each other due to secretive texting and calls-accusations of cheating, surprise parties ruined;
4. Conversations end abruptly-people left hanging, feeling disrespected;
5. People get ghosted and begin to distrust the dating scene.

Yet, how has this 'progress' affected us individually?

What happens when someone asks a question and it goes unanswered for a few days? I know how I feel. But, I wonder how it would feel to someone else if I didn’t reply for a few days. Would they notice? Would they care? 

Because we can reach people nearly immediately, are we becoming so impatient that we demand an immediate reply? “I texted you over an hour ago, why haven’t you replied?”

Are we becoming so egocentric we no longer feel the decency of letting someone we dated know that’s it’s not working and simply stop replying to texts from them?

Have we so disempowered ourselves that when we don’t get a reply within a respectable timeframe we feel inferior? “They’ll reply when they can. I’m sure they have other more important things to do.”

Have we become so disillusioned that we type out our question, send it out into the netherworld without even expecting a timely reply, or if someone does actually reply in a respectful timeframe that we assume they have no life? 

Have we become so dependent on these devices we’re losing our desire for real honest human-to-human interaction whether in person or voice?

I know I’m an anomaly but I suspect I’m not alone. Most people I know simply pass these feelings off as part of texting because it’s become the norm. They passively accept it. 

“All people text that way. It’s just the way it is.” 

By that same logic, I can draw the following comparison: “All partners cheat. It’s just the way it is.”

How passively would they accept that, I wonder?