Communication Technology Invasion

More and more, we are interacting with technology to accomplish tasks instead of people. Technology takes our money and pumps gas into our cars, technology allows us to shop from home instead of with other shoppers, and technology is even the middle man between ourselves and other people most of the time, via computers and cell phones. This trend is hampering our ability to connect with one another and the consequences are more serious than one might believe. There are actually people falling in love with entirely digital personas and craving intimate relationships with them. If this does not strike you as disconcerting, your thinking is unhealthy.

This trend is appearing on many levels of society. Jobs that used to be for people are being replaced by jobs for machines and electronics. The ethic of efficiency in work is being valued over the ethic of a balanced society where all members have work to sustain themselves with. This is a sign of an anti-social society that could be going down a dangerous path of anti-humanism. This cultural shift is a sign of the times and should have people very concerned for the future.

Secondly, our social skills that enable us to connect with other humans deteriorate when we interact with machines instead of people. Socializing is an art form that requires a fair amount of practice. It is highly dependent on all people who are part of an exchange being aware that the other’s perspectives are as valid as theirs. It requires a steady give and take of offering input and receiving input. These are things we cannot learn from technology, only from interacting with other humans and seeking relationships with them.

The cuts that have been made to human interaction for the sake of communication technology are creating a culture of narcissism and sociopathic tendencies. People are beginning to prefer relationships with their technology over relationships with one another. We are in danger of devaluing human life and losing our human identity if this trend persists.

Communication technology is necessary in the world we live in, but recent trends would indicate that we are taking our dependency on communication technology to an unhealthy extreme. People are becoming addicted to their communication technology, they are becoming unable to function without it, and they are forgetting that communication technology is not sustainable enough to depend on at the level we are depending on it. It is important that we realize this as a culture before it is too late.

Addiction to communication technology is a real thing. Many people scoff at this idea, but brain studies have shown that the brain reacts toward a technology addiction the same way it reacts to any other type of addiction. The chemical dopamine is produced and the brain forms neural pathways around the pleasure reaction so that it can achieve the same effect at other times. Technology addiction is incredibly prevalent in our lives but it is a recent, unstudied phenomenon that is not socially embraced yet. Awareness of this addiction problem needs to increase so that we can avoid its destruction.

Being unable to function without communication technology is bad for people on many levels. Becoming too accustomed to it to the point of being lost and dysfunctional without it is an unhealthy state to be in. Humanity evolved without communication technology, and it is in its most natural state when it is not dependent on something recent and unnatural in order to get through the day.

In addition, communications technology is more sustainable than oil dependent technology but it still leaves a considerable carbon footprint on the planet through its energy usage. No one should be dependent on a technology that is unsustainable and harms the planet. Communications technology has a long way to go before it is an ethical use of energy.

And lastly, being overly dependent on any kind of technology makes people spend too much time on their relationships with machines and not enough time on their relationships with people.