Are we using it effectively or are we becoming slaves to these machines. Is excessive dependence on technology taking us away from the roots?
For someone who is as strong a believer in the transformative power of technology as me, the premise of this blog might seem a little strange. However, what I am trying to draw the reader’s attention to here is not the inherent merit of technology. Rather, what I want to share some ideas about is a tendency, which I feel our civilization has become prone to. This tendency, which I’m referring to, is of our current civilization’s rather obsessive relationship with on technology. No matter how useful a tool is, its utility should not become an addiction. Although human beings have every right to revel in our species’ ingenious development of gadgets and solutions, there is a culture of unhealthy over-dependence and overindulgence, which has lately become a bit more apparent than in previous eras.
On the one hand, technology can be understood as a convenience to be enjoyed and taken for granted, on the other, some of our recent behaviours related to it are starting to become slightly dysfunctional. One of the most obvious things that springs to mind is our use of smartphones and social media. I’m sure that most of my readers would have anticipated that I would bring up that example in this context. Perhaps some of you, who enjoy the capabilities your smartphones unlock for you, might even be tempted to dismiss me as a technophobe. Nevertheless, I would ask that you recall that my worry is not about the fact that we have access to technology, but rather our relationship with it.
Having access to a powerful tool that gives you information about any topic in the world, allows you to shop for any of your needs and to communicate with anyone – no matter how near or far – is not a trivial matter. It is certainly not my contention that smartphones are inherently bad. However, staring obsessively at the screen, while ignoring people and life around you isn’t exactly desirable behavior either. Likewise, social media platforms offer a wonderful means to share our point of view, experiences and opinions, but using them to be confrontational, rude and trollish isn’t. Neither of these examples is rare or atypical, so this is not about individual behavior. The problem appears to be what we have come to consider as acceptable conduct, when indulging in a capability that previous generations would not have presumed in their wildest dreams.
Technology can both empower and debase us
My intention to begin with an example that many have brought up before me, was so the general premise that not every use of technology is desirable could be established. However, this is not the extent of my argument. My objection to our uncritical adoption of technology runs quite a bit deeper than that.
Technology occupies a very exalted position in our culture. This is for a very good reason, and something that I wholeheartedly consider justified. Considering the vast improvement in our lives, in terms of convenience and capability, compared to any other era in human history, the reasons should be obvious. However, a tool is always open to many more uses than its primary one. A hammer can harm, just as easily as help make a table. I believe that our compulsive understanding of technology as the cure-all of all our problems leads us into some very negative outcomes. The first factory or automobile were an incredible advance, but decades down the line the consequences on our climate are concerning everyone. The initial innovations were great, but we built a system of production and commerce around these innovations and became reluctant to seek out better solutions. Likewise, perhaps there was a good reason to indulge in chemical based agriculture, at a time when large sections of the world’s population was newly released from under the yoke of colonial rule and a quick means to increase per acre yield was required to feed growing populations more adequately. However, this innovation too has become a millstone around our collective neck, because of the soil degradation and health issues it has caused.
There are many more such examples, but I believe the common factor to all of these instances is the mindset that we have evolved over the last couple of centuries. Having witnessed rapid and profound improvement in our powers to do virtually any human activity, we seem to have become hypnotized by these achievements and have come to believe that humans can replace all previous ideas and practices with better ones, with the use of technology. The thought captured by that last statement requires a little nuance and sensitivity, when we consider it. On the surface of it, it rings true. I would agree that we can refine virtually anything with the use of technology; however, every attempt to do so must not be regarded as an improvement without careful analysis and consideration of the consequences. Also, something that we forget quite often is that nature is the longest running science experiment of all time. It has developed ‘technologies’ that are likely to be the best available option, simply because all possible solutions have been subjected to every possible condition, in the course of many billions of years. Not every natural process needs to be replaced and not every human technology is inherently an improvement. Walk into your favourite fast food chain and notice that the entire business model is dependent on ideas that have their origins in industrial manufacturing. Sure, you could say that the process feeds more people in a given amount of time than would be possible using traditional practices. Our knowledge of the impact a processed food heavy diet has on humans, however, shows us that this is a far from ideal scenario. I believe our uncritical acceptance of all new technology, as an improvement, is a similar misjudgment.
Awakening to balance
No matter how deeply entrenched any of us might be in the modern way of life, whenever we are in pristine natural surroundings, we experience something deep and profound touching us. Not only is this experience in contrast to the excessive stimulation we are constantly exposed to, it should easy to realize that technology can never replace it. Never mind how many astounding videos of amazing acts and happenings one watches on youtube or vimeo, a jungle freshly green from a monsoon shower, or the sun setting over an incoming tide touches us in a way that is elevating in a way that cannot be replaced. It is not my contention that we must choose between one or the other. All I wish to point out is that when technology becomes too all-pervasive, it might be time to deliberately reach for a more balanced way to live.
The consequences of the previous generations of technology, as well as our addictive use of some more recent ones, should make us think. In my opinion, that deeper thought that we should be engaging in, is that each instance of technology that we have available as an option should be considered on its own merits. I remember reading recently that the average personal computer today has a few thousand times the processing power on board, than the Apollo 11 lunar module. As the power of the technology we hold in our hands becomes more and more impressive, any negative consequences it might result in also escalates in potential. The problem isn’t technology, it is our ability to keep our relationship with the possibilities it enables balanced.
They say a wise man knows both his strengths and his limitations. Having established that we as a species are prone to becoming overly dependent on and addicted to technology, I believe there should more widespread acknowledgement of this chink in our armour. Human beings might be the smartest organism on the planet, but our ability to understand subtle changes, over time, is a little limited. It’s not for nothing that it takes the geniuses among us to warn us of big picture issues, most of us simply do not perceive things at that scale. Unfortunately, enthusiastic consumers outnumber insightful geniuses in our population, and always will. Realizing this about ourselves is just the first step. We need to go further and become far more active in ensuring that this limitation does not become a weakness. I believe, just like any other addiction, early signs of our overdependence on technology should awaken us to the need to restore balance. Technology is a tool, it must never be allowed to become our master.
