In 1988, the movie Beaches came out—an amazing flick – touching and sad.  Made famous in that movie was the song, Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler.  A song of similar beauty was released in 1979 in a movie called The Rose – and the song only played during the closing credits.  Let’s face it, both are emotional – and with this in mind, this blog will be one in which I emote just a little.  But I will turn your attention to a different version of this song below – the one that was performed by Conway Twitty – in 1982.  Yes, he was a copycat for doing so. But his version gets me a little bit more than Bette’s does.  It turns out that The Rose makes a great country song. 

I think emotion will become increasingly important as the years pass.  It is only a matter of time before AI really starts taking jobs away from people.  Dehumanization seems to be on the rise – sadly – and not just because of AI.  If we are truly preparing our kids for the future, we oughtta be thinking about this.  The quality of their lives will depend on how they learn to treat one another from minute to minute, day after day.  The ability to understand what someone is going through is something that a computer program cannot master. 

Every one of us needs to be recognized positively, and if we were left to interact with AI regularly, our spirits and souls would be completely disregarded. To AI, we don’t matter.  We don’t exist.  The sense of being seen and understood actually brings feelings of bliss.  And now and forever, it will be only humans who can do this.  Or dogs.  They do it pretty well, too.  Having someone know you, I mean really know you – and to know another – really know them are gifts from God – if and when it happens.  You know what the best thing in the world is – knowing a person who really knows you.  This is precisely how fakers and phonies dupe people into compromising situations – because the duped are hoping for something great from someone who seems to know them well.  Then, they are left devastated.

AI will never create and support ongoing person-to-person connections.  Even without AI, social skills, in general, are a stock to be shorted.  Social skills stock has been plummeting.  If you own shares, sell now.  I wonder if this fact is connected to the meteoric rise of the Depression and Anxiety stocks.  The collective Anxiety and Depression figures could go down, I’d bet, if every person took a few minutes to recognize the existence of others in positive and uplifting ways.  As a teacher, I remember having a bulletin board in my classroom that said, “Think Locally, Act Locally.”  To say, if everyone does small things – big things can happen.  If we took time to recognize the humans around us and in our lives, and they did it too, and this behavior went viral, many things would get better. 

With the iPhone and social media – the frequency and duration of its use – by my own son - I am scared to death that he can become one of those people who get all of their intellectual and social stimulation by clicking a thumb up or a heart, and hoping someone will do the same to him.  It is disturbingly easy for this to happen – few real attachments to people, communicating ineffectively, only through one-liners, forwards, shares, or judgments – seeing only posts – and not people.  My son and I have a lot of conversations, and I do my best to get him to understand how others think and feel.

How do we do this? When things happen with people - good or bad- we should ask our kids questions and have deep conversations. Today, when Jadeveyon Clowney was dancing up a storm on the NFL field, I wanted to ask my son why this was. It was because he got his $750,000 bonus. But I’d have gone more into it. If you were on the field, what would you say to him? I know my son - and he’d say Congratulations. But, I’d ask him if he could say, “I am proud of you - and I know you worked hard for it, and you deserve it?” I want him to learn to go deeper in his interactions. I tell him to work hard not to be AI.

Conway Twitty passed away in 1993.  In one of his songs, he told a story about a father and how he felt about being there for his son.  I’ve always recognized my job with my son – and I feel that it is more important now than ever.  We make great sacrifices for our kids to have the stuff they need – food, shelter, warmth, love, clothes, technology, comfort, safety, acceptance, belonging, excitement, health, straight teeth, clean skin, and clean hair.  But what about people skills?  What skills will set them apart from a growing population of disinterested, uninteresting, unhealthy, unstimulating, selfish, and angry people?  I feel that I am giving my son the tools he needs to be marketable because he will have the passion, understanding, and love that the sons and daughters of those too busy on their phones and on social media even see their kids.  I am not mindless – and nor will he be because that’s my job.