Connecting

This weekend I attended a producers’ screening of “127 Hours,” the film starring James Franco that chronicles the dramatic real-life experience of Colorado outdoorsman Aron Ralston.

I won’t spoil the movie for those of you who don’t remember the 2003 event—although you likely do, as it made international news and caught the attention of Danny Boyle and Christian Colson in England—the team that later brought us “Slumdog Millionaire.” After “Slumdog Millionaire,” they turned their full attention to “127 Hours,” which they produced with John Smithson. Boyle directed.

What I will share (aside from the fact that 3 audience members fainted during the film, all at the same time. My first time hearing that unhappy line in a dark theater, “Is there a doctor in the house?” Unlikely in this case, as the audience was comprised of film producers. And me. Fortunately no doctors were needed and everyone was fine) is an interesting comment Danny Boyle made after the film. He and Christian Colson were in attendance and conducted a Q&A at the end. In discussing his exploration of the themes of isolation and connection, Boyle said that Aron Ralston was fascinated with video and always had his camcorder with him. He created lots of “messages” on video—filming himself giving messages to different people in his life. And Boyle noticed that at the same time Aron Ralston was exploring video messaging in the ruggedness of Colorado, Mark Zuckerberg and others were developing facebook in the hallowed halls of Harvard.

Isolation. Technology. Connection—the absolute, fundamental human requirement of connection. In 2003, two young men were exploring technologies that are intimately related to connection. Both of their lives are now splashed across movie screens (Ralston’s in “127 Hours,” Zuckerberg’s in “The Social Network”). And while the backdrops of these films couldn’t be more different, it’s worth digging below the surface and exploring in our own lives a theme that walks across both—the link between technology and connection. I won’t engage here in the debate over whether technology and social networking in particular strengthen or weaken our human connections. The discussion is robust and everyone has an opinion. In the short term, people must decide for themselves how and to what extend they will rely on emerging technologies in their relationships. In the long term, the scientists will have the necessary ingredient of time and conduct the research to contribute data to the discussion.

What I will weigh in on today is more fundamental than “how will you create connection—with or without the tools of technology.” Why are these tools being created at all? Because everyone agrees on how critical connection itself is to the human experience, to our existence. And each of us must examine this for ourselves—the absolute fundamental human requirement of connection, period, in our own lives. Technology tools or not. We are all so busy, transacting life in an increasingly complex world. The question is: are we connecting? Really and truly connecting?

I have a neuroscientist friend who spends his days studying the link between human connection and health. Health, as in, quality of life in the short term, and life or death in the long (or not-so-long) term. The research is fascinating, the connection undeniable. Human connection improves and lengthens life. How the new communication technology tools figure into that equation remains to be seen.

For now, this week, ask yourself: “Who do I need to connect with?”

And connect. Just…connect.