Originally Posted by Thane

Ok, so I polished up the above. Let me know what you think, or if there's something you'd add or say differently:

Members of our society spend more time working and running errands and other less communal activities that make up our modern lives. The next time you go out in public, take notice of how many people won't even look you in the eye. We spend a lot less time actually hanging out with each other, say on a front porch with friends, or a town hall with fellow citizens, talking with each other and really taking an interest in what others have to say or why they think the way they do. The internet has become a replacement for this and it doesn't work because it removes the human element. So, for some reason, even though we're becoming more and more self absorbed with our own little cosmos, we've somehow become more concerned with how other people live their lives or what they believe. We don't take time to get to know each other and understand each other, but somehow we won't hesitate to criticize what others do or what they believe. It's very easy to DO now that we don't actually have to deal with each other in person. We can each have our own anonymous little sphere we inhabit and feel superior to everyone else that doesn't do what WE do or think like WE think.