Arguably the most exciting trend in tech right now is smart wearables.  It's a recent innovation, but many companies are jumping on the wagon.  Google has its famous Google Glass, but it also just announced Android Wear to put it firmly in the market.  There have been many indy companies like Pebble and Metawatch who have come out with strong offerings to the market, and there are established companies like Samsung and Sony who have also recently released smart wearables.  

Last week I purchased a red Pebble Smartwatch.  I then took a weekend in Chicago and wore it the whole time without really thinking about it.  I was able to adapt pretty quick and began to find myself using it effectively.  When I got home from the weekend my roommates caught a glance and had a reaction which I didn't expect.  One roommate said he isn't excited at all for smart wearables because it's one more thing that will distract him.  I hadn't thought about this before he mentioned it, but he did raise a good point and it's moved me to write a piece on why I'm not only not bothered by smart wearables, but why I think they're a great enhancement to how we interact with our other devices, particularly our phones.

For anyone paying attention, you know this already, but the Pebble is the smartwatch that has really set the standard for what a smartwatch should be, but it's also one of the more humble when it comes to features.  It's a black and white screen with a vibration motor and a 4ish day battery life.  

The number one reason I think the smartwatch is going to improve how we are dealing with technology is that it's subtle.  When you get a notification on your phone, in order to check it, first your phone must announce you notification - often audibly, then you have to take your phone out of your pocket, turn the screen on, unlock the screen, and then check the notification.  On the smartwatch (the Pebble at least) each notification vibrates the watch and the information is displayed on the screen.  Not that checking your watch is a respectful thing to do when you're deep in conversation with another person, but it's a lot easier to get away with if your conversation buddy gets distracted for a second.  It makes what is quite the ordeal a simple glance down.  I don't even use a ringtone anymore.

The other thing that's very nice about this subtlety is that it makes it easier for everyone to ignore a notification that isn't important.  One thing that we can all relate to is interrupting a conversation to look at an incoming call, only to realize it's an ex-girlfriend calling to presumably to catch up and let you know how happy she is now.  The ignore process is almost as cumbersome as checking notifications and is definitely drawing attention.  Now, for me, all I have to do is click one button on my wrist and ignore the call - it's quite simple and inconspicuous.  It is much better for the present moment.

But I haven't really addressed my roommates issue.  In order to disconnect, I have to leave my phone and now my watch behind.  It's not a huge pain in the butt, but I get that it will keep you connected more than it would if you didn't have it around.  It is harder to get away from the buzz of the world and retreat.  There are silent hours that you can set on the watch itself, but random moments of peace will be easily interrupted.

That all being said, I don't think we live in a world that it's responsible to be disconnected from.  We have these amazing tools in our pocket that allow us to reach out and connect with one another easier than ever before.  Because they are such a useful tool, we are relying on them more and more.  This also places a larger dependency on others since the phone is a tool of connection.  If I'm not available, I'm letting someone down, and sometimes in a big way (we don't want Annie to have to sleep outside!).

For me, the smartwatch is a great tool which allows me to be in the moment while still being someone who the rest of the world can continuously depend on.  After a lesson or two in balancing being present virtually and physically and mentally, it's allowing me to be more present with all everyone without burdening those who I'm with.

Do you believe in God? Do you go to church? Which church do you attend? Are you at all political? Would you consider yourself on the right or left side of the isle? Good. Now that we have those out of the way, I’d like to point out that none of that matters, really. Here’s one, though: are you a good person?

To get rolling, I’d like to explain what inspired me to write this piece. A while back, I liked a facebook page called Atheism & World Peace. Back when I started following the page, it was posting quality posts that were facts inspiring harmony among the world’s populations. I liked that so I liked the page. Recently, however, the page took on a different face and began to post some pretty hateful things about various faiths, particularly towards Christianity. To me, this seemed to be a major divergence from the initial mission and name of the page. I posted a very calm and loving message on the page’s wall explaining my concern and disappointment with this trend and I was met with anger and hate. 

This taught me a very important lesson about people. I learned that no matter what you believe or think, you can still be an asshole. I thought that a page of atheists was a page of open-minded free-thinkers. I know now that this is not the case. There are people everywhere who know what they know, believe what they believe, and will take it personally and get upset if someone admits their approach is different (even when claiming to believe nothing). These people are willing to belittle and berate people without thinking twice about who they are preaching at or about what they are preaching.

This bothered me. I sat on it for a while and finally I came to a conclusion. I have decided that it doesn't matter what you believe. I don’t care and I think that’s the healthiest way to approach others. When you and I are together, it doesn't matter how we got to that place. Were we created from mud, shaped by a divine being, fired in a kiln of love and given earth to roam, or are we the result of miniscule mutations which aided in your ancestors’ survival over millions of years? That doesn’t matter at all.  Are we here now? Yes. Similarly, whether you go meet your ancestors in an intangible paradise or become fertilizer for future life on earth doesn't matter either. What matters is how you are in that moment. What really matters is if you are a good person or not.

Now, before I go on, I understand that there’s a healthy amount of what and who a person is defined by what that person knows, believes, and holds dearly, and that is important, but what matters is how you've let your beliefs affect who you are, not the beliefs. I love a lot of Christian morality, I also love a lot of Buddhist ideas and those have shaped all of my interactions because the ideas have shaped me. Do you care? Unless we’re specifically talking about it, probably not. Do I care what specific beliefs you hold dear? 90% of the time, no.

So let’s take a step back and stop insisting that what we believe is fact, because it doesn’t matter. If you tell an atheist that he or she is going to hell because of a lack of faith, you’re not being productive (chances are, it’s a threat of something they don’t think exists). If you tell a Christian that there’s no proof that God exists and therefore there’s no gods, you’re also not being productive (remember, the absence of proof is not proof of absence). Both of these things are going to likely cause offence and they are completely irrelevant to your conversations. 

Focus instead on how you treat other people. Are you shaming good people for believing there’s an omnipotent being? If so, you’re being an asshole. The same goes for people who are discriminating against people because a book they enjoy says people who are attracted to people with the same genitalia are bad people. The list goes on and it’s best if we don’t dwell on this list.

Instead, we should focus on how we interact with others. Are we engaged with our present moment and company? Are we showing love and understanding? Are we avoiding the arrogant temptations of superiority? I aim to answer, ‘yes, yes, no,’ when I run my personal assessment. I think those three questions and answers are great ways for me to check to make sure I am having a positive impact online.

Being a good person to others is hard to do online. I get that.  We communicate through a machine, be it a cell phone or a computer.  Machines don’t have feelings. You can’t offend your computer. You can crash it, but you can’t damage it emotionally. It’s easy to forget that we are not talking to computers when we are interacting online.   Unless you have established a report, treat others tenderly online. You may be strong, but that doesn't mean everyone can handle what you are okay typing. One thing I heard recently and will encourage is that you don’t forget the human.

I think that one thing we can all agree on is that we're all in this together, and the success of humans depends on how we move as a whole. My dad used to always tell me that I had two options in this life. I could either make the world better or I could make the world worse. He would also say to me, "Matt, If you're not helping, you're hurting." Perhaps we were created, or designed, or evolved and maybe when we die we go to heaven or our energy is absorbed and creates new life on the planet. All of that is out of our control and doesn't matter. What we should instead start focusing on is whether we're respecting each other and making the world a better place to call home. Go out you christians, buddhists, atheists, muslims, hindus, republicans, democrats, independents, or whatever else you consider yourself, love each other, and make the world a better place!