In The Electronic Age, Always Remember The Personal Touch

Great piece in the Sunday Times about how e-mail can be misinterpreted... and how a phone call or a drop-by can be the best cure-all.

E-mail, the article reads, might be behind much of the miscommunication we have with one another:

"This is becoming more apparent with the emergence of social neuroscience, the study of what happens in the brains of people as they interact. New findings have uncovered a design flaw at the interface where the brain encounters a computer screen: there are no online channels for the multiple signals the brain uses to calibrate emotions."

Shows the irony of the "reach out and touch someone" ads of the past... although I still think that e-communication can be just as powerful, thoughtful and effective when done with care.

(Illustration by Stuart Goldenberg for the NYTimes.)