When I heard “The X Files” was coming back for six episodes, I was thrilled! What other show gives you supernatural, psychological, political, legal, medical, and alien content wrapped into one? The show ended when I was a new lawyer; that is, when cell phones weren’t smart; Monica, Phoebe, Rachel, Ross, Chandler, and Joey were screen friends; e-mail was barely a blip on the screen; and tweeting was simply the sound birds make. I remember thinking how cool Mulder was when he whipped out his Nokia flip phone (the “it” phone of the new millennium, right?) to call Scully. After all, he couldn’t send her a text. A text was something we read not something we did back in 2000. But now, in these new episodes Scully can see…on her smart phone…when Mulder is calling her. And Mulder can take pictures of the monsters and aliens on his phone. Technology has definitely changed in the past 16 years. We will see if any of these devices help the agents in their quest to find the truth!
Unfortunately, devices that make life easier can make life more complicated. I can’t tell you how many clients have told me they or their spouse “reunited” with a past love-interest on Facebook, or an affair was discovered in an e-mail or text. If this has happened to you, you aren’t alone. Social media and technology have certainly made the world smaller by reuniting people or keeping them connected. But some argue technology is making us less social. Kids text instead of talk to their friends. Relationships end via e-mail. Technology should enhance communication, not hinder it. Hopefully, human beings won’t evolve into a life form where kindness, sensitivity, and compassion aren’t valued. Or perhaps that’s part of Mulder’s whole conspiracy theory. The truth IS out there…somewhere…
– Audra Holbeck