The great British writer, E.M. Forster had this advice for aspiring writers: “Only connect!”
It’s damn good advice for non-writers, as well.
Our brains, a vast network of connections, are genetically evolved to basically be connection-making machines.
We’re born to see patterns, both in nature and in the abstract.
And we’re born to connect with people, to share ideas, to share our knowledge, to share our lives. We are no islands, we are hyper social primates.
Connection is primal. Connection is survival.
So the next time you’re beating yourself up for spending too much time online (Something we are all guilty of nowadays), just remember why you’re doing it.
You were losing yourself to that “infinite scroll” that is the Internet, because your brain has an infinite need to make connections with the world around it.
But as we all know, it’s not enough to feed the brain. The soul needs feeding, as well. And that only comes from connections that are rare and precious. That requires another skill set altogether, one that takes a lifetime to master, and even then…
But “Only Connect”, indeed. Is what we’re here for.
