Last week, I sent an email using the same email system I have been using for the past (at least) 15 years, Yahoo. I was surprised when, immediately after sending the email, a message appeared on the screen congratulating me for having completed the task of writing and sending an email.
Then, I checked the spam folder to see if any real message was mark as “spam” by mistake. I rescued a couple of messages and I deleted all the rest. Again, a message appeared congratulating me for doing my part in fighting spam.
Later, I connected my phone to a local Wi-Fi network to make a call. After I was done with the call, a message appeared on the screen of my cell phone congratulating me for having placed a call using Wi-Fi. That was too much for me.
I have been using phones for many, many years. I have been sending emails for two decades. I have never been congratulated before for sending an email, deleting junk emails, or making a call. In fact, I do not want and I do not need those congratulations. Why, then, they send them to me?
I think we live at a time when we feel so isolated, so neglected, and so without recognition that it is assumed that even an anonymous, automatic, and depersonalized expression of congratulation would be well received.
In addition, could it be possible we are losing our mental capability to the point we need to be congratulated for doing trivial and simple things? According to a new report, that could be the case.
The report was published on October 8, 2013, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, based in Paris. The report reveals that adults in the United States are number 16 in reading among adults of the 23 most developed countries; number 17 in problem resolution, and number 21 in mathematics.
The research, done by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, indicates American adults face more challenges than adults in Japan, Finland, the Netherlands, and Australia, and many other countries, when they try to understand digital messages or solve common problems.
Perhaps that is why I am congratulated for sending an email, deleting spam, o making a call. I wonder what other artifacts will soon also congratulate me and why they will do it.
I guess my refrigerator will congratulate me for not leaving leftovers in its interior. And perhaps my car will congratulate me for changing its oil every 3000 miles, as suggested in the owners’ manual.
If I make a mistake, will they be mad at me? Perhaps the computer will remind me to delete all the spam and the car will be upset for having less than half a tank of gasoline.
Please, don’t assume this is a ridiculous proposition. We are always looking for instant gratification and personal recognition. And that search is so intense we will avoid offending machines so they can seduce and congratulate us.