‘In your Face’ book dentistry

Interpersonal communication, and the methods and modes through which it is achieved, has exponentially increased and diversified over the last 20 years. The concept of the ‘internet’ had long been theorized, in a similar manner to Jules Verne and the submarine, by a number of Americans in the 60s, but the actual creation of the worldwide web was achieved by a Brit by the name of Tim Berners-Lee in 1991. He created the first website and lit the touch paper on the information revolution or, as some may call it, the sociological devolution we currently reside in. Social media and smartphones have resulted in a net reduction of face-to-face interpersonal communication. This is largely due to the efficiency with which messages can be sent to hundreds or thousands and the lack of commitment that is required to achieve it. I am part of a Whatsapp group for Arsenal supporters where we disseminate the misfortune of our team's current predicament; this has largely replaced the banter of a drink on the weekend at our local pub. Instead of travelling to a mutually agreeable destination and finding somewhere to sit and poking fun at each other, we simply bash our screens with emojis, memes and GIFs. There is less original humour and wit than there was when we used to meet in the Black Lion all those years ago. This type of messaging and communicating is addictive – we are slaves (or slain?) to our phones. I am forever trying to dodge people on London roads who refuse to look where they are going and would rather be mesmerized by their screen. Phone addiction is rife and, in a similar way to other addictive tendencies, results in a dopamine hit which feeds our pleasure areas of the brain. Smartphone Apps such as breakfree and moment actually track how much time you spend on your phone and calculate the number of seconds, minutes or hours we spend. Download it and try them; you may be shocked at your own results!