In expansion on last week, the telegraph, telephone, television, telescope, telecaster...

are words that have one of the most influential prefixes in human history, tele. Tele comes from the Greek language and means far off or at a distance. So telegraph means that which writes at a far distance, telephone means that which speaks at a far distance, and of course television and telescope oth mean that which sees at a far distance. These technologies have allowed communications and o servations etween friends, families, and even enemies to ecome easier over a distance creating what is known as the Glo al !illage. "ell except the telecaster, ut it did fuel the rock scene of the #$s and %$s shaping the sounds of ands such as The &ard irds, The 'olling Stones, (ed )eppelin, and The *lash. +s a result of these technologies eing refined and eventually com ined into the modern smartphone, with such social applications as email, ,ace ook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Tum lr, and &ouTu e we have seen families comforta ly spread out further and farther across the world- not .ust a few locks or towns away, ut states or seas away. ,riendships have een redefined to include passing ac/uaintances, and ullying has ecome easier and more venomous. +re these technologies displaying the true side of human nature or are they sculpting us to interact differently with each other when we communicate at distance0 "e talk to people more often even though we are farther apart, ut are we talking to them with the same /uality or respect as we used to0 "e often hear of certain social trends or lifestyles eing lamed for the destruction of the family. 1owever could there e another deeper cause such as the lack of close support and guidance from the now distant extended family, such as aunts, uncles, and grandparents, not eing readily around. 2lectronic communications have not een a le to replace the complexities that occur in human to human interactions when eyes meet, hands touch, and words have a living reath ehind them without electronic assistance. 2lders and mentors are important in the development of the growing psyche, so perhaps our technologies have ro ed us of some important human interactions that were once a part of life efore these conveniencies existed. +ll this not to say that we a andon our advancements in search for the old world ways, ut that we e aware of the changes and their influence on our interactions so we don3t lose ourselves for the sake of convenience. +long with distance, fre/uency of interaction is another important aspect of current technologies. 4ore communication does not automatically mean etter communication and will e explored in next week3s column.