Over the past few weeks I have been thinking a lot about personal communication. In this world of fast, compact technology and instant information, we can share lots of facts and quick messages. This is certainly a boon to society in many ways. Social networking, Twitter, email, cell phones—communication is so easy, you’d think no one would have a problem with it.

But are we sometimes using all of these tools to create a sort of facsimile of communication—as a substitute for the real thing, especially in our most important personal relationships?