#human-connection

#human-connection

There haven't been many slow news days in 2025, a year which further highlighted how increasingly divided our world - and, indeed, our country - is becoming. But the busy news cycle was also filled with stories that unite us, such as the 96th-minute goal from Troy Parrott that served to give the entire country a badly-needed lift last month.

I've spent the last year focused on building meaningful relationships on LinkedIn - sharing personal and professional experiences to create genuine connections. Each of these words have shaped this journey: staying curious about what my audience cares about and wants to learn from me, experimenting with creative ways to share my experience and engage with others, and embracing the courage it took to get started and be vulnerable.

For years, innovation has centered on speed. Faster processing. Faster decisions. Faster communication. But as artificial intelligence reshapes the modern workplace, a quieter truth is emerging from neuroscience and behavioral psychology: as technology accelerates, people are slowing down emotionally. Across industries, employees report rising cognitive fatigue, decreased trust, and a growing sense of isolation despite being more digitally connected than ever before.

Over time, you learn that trust is not built in the moment of a sale, but in the quiet consistency that comes before and after it. It's about listening more than you speak, remembering the small things that matter to people, and showing up when it counts. Homes are where people live their stories, and when you help them find one, you become part of that story too.

This is a story about Starbucks, economics, and good things that are hard to put a number on. The company invested over $500 million in additional labor hours. They brought back Sharpies so baristas could write names and smiley faces on cups. They set a goal to fulfill orders within four minutes while emphasizing personal connection.

Brendan Fraser's career renaissance continues with an Oscar win, and his new film Rental Family will be featured as the American Express gala at the BFI London Film Festival.

In the harshness of life in the world's largest open-air prison, [the phone] becomes more than a device. It's an extension of yourself; your portal to the world.

Human connection is fundamental to our well-being, shaping individuals and societies through a spectrum of interactions. These exchanges cultivate personal happiness and societal cohesion.

"We are analog creatures, built to connect through our senses but the more we lose ourselves in digital algorithms, the more we drift away from empathy and real connection."

"Today, usage is dominated by these generalist AI systems, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, but we're seeing, starting with specific categories, this move into more specialized apps."

Customer service is not just a department. It consists of unscripted moments and acts of ownership that build trust and loyalty, belonging to everyone in a company.

"In Twisted Metal, that means brightening up even the most brutal apocalyptic showdowns, showing how the end of the world forces everyone - and especially Quiet - to define themselves."

Our culture teaches us to prioritize utility over humanity, making us overlook the unique worth and rich inner worlds of individuals.

Humans need eye contact. It can make people feel closer, more honest, and more respected.

As I stood at a Himalayan crossroads clutching a paper map, I could feel my fingers twitching for a phone I'd vowed not to use.

Repko weaves an ambiguity into her canvases through an abstraction of space, capturing her subjects in transition between past and future.

The Picturephone, unveiled at the 1964 World's Fair, aimed to create intimacy through technology—a promise of connection and understanding in a rapidly modernizing world.