There is definitely, without a doubt, an impact technology has made on our society.
But what is technology?
At first glance you may think of this, but what if I were to tell you it goes much deeper than that
Back in caveman times the wheel was the latest and greatest technology, which turned to fire, which turned to tools, boats, steel, the light bulb, the printing press, the telegraph, antibiotics, the steam engine, the car, the world wide web, and has now evolved into the computer in your pocket.
By definition, the term Technology is simply defined as "the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes"
As far as our relationship with technology goes, we have to much further define technology
If you were to ask me about our relationship with technology
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| Written Language |
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| Light Blub |
As opposed to our relationship with technology
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| Streaming Services |
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| Computer Phones |
I would give you two completely different answers!
One helped us grow, and learn, and invent, and create heightened our possibilities as a race through use of new and interesting and complicated means and the other keeps the majority of us busy and distracted from fulfilling our lives with meaningful purpose by entertaining us mainly through a screen comprised of tiny dots that change colors
I would say our relationship with older technologies and some modern technologies (Mainly the ones aimed at helping man kind, even thought there are some opposing theories on what is considered "good for it mainly with "surveillance" in mind) was / is relatively good. We conquered the unknown and molded it to our needs to move forward up the evolution chain
-The wheel aided the transport and later the agricultural industries
-The light blub helped social order after dark, extended work hours, increased productivity, etc
-The printing press was the first step to sharing large amounts of information quickly
-etc.
And I would say modern technologies mainly focusing on entertainment and social media have set us back a bit. The World Wide Web for example,
People think that because we have the WWW / Internet we are somehow better simply because we have it now but the recoil happens when people don't go out to learn things anymore because they know any question they have in a google search away.
But it didn't start this way, many original designs for these now corrupted sources of distractions were not intended to be used the way they are today
-The first automobile gave people personal freedom and access to a plethora of other jobs
-YouTube (I had to mention it) just wanted to be a platform that help people share videos easier
-The first telephone cut communication time down to almost instantly
From humble beginnings, these inventions have crumbled
-Through the convenience of the automobile, people drive *everywhere* polluting the air and
neglecting their physical health
- 500 hours or watch time are uploaded to YouTube every second and I can guarantee you that
not all of it is helpful, educational, and in some instances legal or ethical.
not all of it is helpful, educational, and in some instances legal or ethical.
-People don't use their phones as phones anymore, they use them to access social media and
scroll looking at the same thing, depictions of the perfect life, their friend's picture of their kale
scroll looking at the same thing, depictions of the perfect life, their friend's picture of their kale
salad they had for lunch that day, or other meaningless garbage that they will then "like" and
then forget about it the next day
then forget about it the next day
Clearly I'm passionate about the topic but I'm not wrong am I
I mean, I'm a part of the demographic that social media like Instagram and Snapchat is supposed to be pandered towards, I am their target audience, and to me it's just the most useless waste of time but since all of my generation is on it, I feel the need to post just so people don't think I'd dead. Yes I know social media is not totally useless, I know from personal experience
- It's connected me to people of whom I didn't have their number / email
- It helped me contact a small business
- It helped me contact a small business
- It once helped me start marketing for my own small business
- etc
but regardless, I'd be just fine without it.
My most recent post on Instagram was in January in which I had shown I had gotten a hair cut and realized afterwards that the only people that will care that I've gotten a hair cut will eventually see it in real life. (Thank you Randy Feltface, great comedian, check him out)
So, what can we do about it
well, there's some educational stuff on the internet so we'll want to keep that, the creative stuff too, political stuff may be annoying sometimes but it's helpful to have around, marketing also annoying but it helps businesses big and small, keep communications cause that's important, maybe get rid of the nonsensical garbage on the internet but that's funny sometimes so let's keep it,
well, there's some educational stuff on the internet so we'll want to keep that, the creative stuff too, political stuff may be annoying sometimes but it's helpful to have around, marketing also annoying but it helps businesses big and small, keep communications cause that's important, maybe get rid of the nonsensical garbage on the internet but that's funny sometimes so let's keep it,
ummmmmmmmm
I don't know
I don't know what to do, I don't know what we can do, I don't know what we should do
I do think though, that with focus and determination one can have a health relationship with technology
I mean, right now I'm writing this on mu laptop, the same laptop that has my favorite game installed onto it and it's taking every fiber of my will power to not just play it now but I'm not, I am holding together, writing this to you
As an ending thought...
Yes technology has brought on some new problems, but it has also brought on new solutions, it just comes with change
Keep in mind that while technology can connect you to the possibilities of the world, you have to take the step to go out and achieve those possibilities
