Our saintly editor, the poet Eleanor Nauen who puts up with me week after week and does so much to make sense of my column,, sent me this press release with some issues worth pondering.

LETS FACE IT, MAN IS NOT MADE TO COMMUNICATE ELECTRONICALLY, SAYS TEMPLEUNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

Cell phones and e-mail may have become common forms of communication inthe21st century, but centuries of evolution have made face-to-facecommunication man’s preferred method, says Dr. Ned Kock, director of theE-Collaboration Research Center in Temple University’s Fox School ofBusiness and Management.

“There is a principle from evolution theory called the ‘repeated useprinciple,’ which argues that we have to repeatedly use a medium ofcommunication, an organ, or a task so that our biological apparatusbecomesoptimized to use that tool or perform that task,” says Kock. “Since wehave communicated during most of the past three to five million years byusing face-to-face interaction, you have to conclude that we haveoptimizedour biological apparatus for that type of communication.

Kock argues that a lot of today’s electronic communications takes us toofar away from face-to-face communication, and requires increased cognitiveeffort on our part.

Wanna know more. News Media Contact: Preston M. Moretz, Temple Office of News and MediaRelations, 215/204-7476

It might be best to contact him face to face. It’s more “cognitive” that way.