Despite technology advancements having significant benefits for our lives, the often overlooked consequences are scary.
We now need to always have something electronic in our hands – a technology device that connects us to the Internet. We’re bypassing the real world and spending an unprecedented amount of time socialising, working and thinking with computers.
Think about how different our children will be to our grandparents generation. Children now play with iPads, even before they can talk, what impact will that have on societies to come?
1.The digital wall
A home, at work and outside. People are no longer interfacing with people, instead they rely primarily on technology for knowledge. A common answer to a question is “Google it”. Whilst it may be more efficient to search the internet for knowledge, it also has consequences. With less human to human interaction we stagnate our social skills, it also removes the open ended conversations, with others, that lead to our most creative moments. Technology, has ultimately changed our knowledge collecting forever, arguably for the good but let us not forget the value of face to face interaction and conversations with no objective.
2. We are less patient
Technology has made so many of us, much less patient in more ways than one. With the world at our fingertips, we want to know answers right away – why wait around for a conclusion, when we can find it within a few taps and a swipe. This unfortunatly may give us an unrealistic expectation of success. We have a decreased exposure to waiting for results and as such, may be more inclined than ever before, to take short-cuts. We must be self-aware and realise that fast, does not always mean high quality.
3. Search for the like button – offline
Social inclusion is incredibly important to us – just look at the intense popularity of social networking sites. We are constantly focused on what others think and we post pictures not for ourselves but for others to enjoy. This can be great for our global friends and far-away family but it can also have damaging consequences to our self worth. When we spend too long trying to please others we loose track of what we actually want or like.
4. We can’t focus
Do you ever wonder how many minutes of our day we miss because we are staring at our phones? A scary survey recently quoted that the average person in the US now spends around 5 hours per day on mobile devices. That’s almost half of the waking day for some, spent on their phone and worryingly, most of that time is outside of working hours. Think of all the life that will escape us? We need to incorporate habitual phone free moments, so that we don’t allow life to escape us.
5. Less safety conscious
A small but important behaviour change. At any red light or even whilst driving, we are more inclined than ever before to check our mobile phones. We have actually come to a point, where we would place our tech obsession, above our health and the health of others. What does this say?