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Get on a train and it is likely that several people around you will be wearing earphones. There they are in the same space, but not talking or paying attention to one another. Though listening to a personal tape player this way has some virtue in that you donft usually disturb others, it allows almost no human contact. You are alone with your machine. 

A similar situation occurs with many video games. A person concentrating on destroying spaceships, avoiding attackers, or shooting enemies needs no companion. True, some games do enable players to take turns, and then people might talk to each other, but in many cases the player is involved only with the machine and its program. 

In what ways are young people affected by instruments like these? Are they becoming less able to make contact with the surrounding world? This question is becoming increasingly important with the spread of personal computers. Computer technology is becoming more and more widely used in areas like communications, education, and banking. In one way or another, many people now spend a great deal of time in front of a computer screen. The fact that television frequently limits communication within families is already well known; these new developments will further lead people to live within themselves and not reach out to other people.

At this moment in history, science seems likely to alter our society as never before. At the same time, the power of technology has become enormous. Perhaps technology itself is creating individuals who are only concerned with their own interests. Will they be satisfied simply to watch events passively, without becoming involved in social decisions which may change their own lives? Machines should not be allowed to ruin our sense of social responsibility. Whether we admit it or not, we are all here together, and share a common fate.

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