Modern technology, is not limited merely to the internet but includes a surfeit of other kinds of technology. Anything that uses data chips is considered within this form of technology. Personal notebooks, e-Book readers, MP4s, IPods, IPhones etc… In toto, the combined effect of this technology will be to produce a new societal culture and modify the personality of the human person. This is the second part which will consider the interplay between technology and personality (see Internet Privacy).
Similar to the dawn of the industrial age, society is divided into many different levels of acceptance. Technophiles lap up all forms of new technology rushing to get the latest device when it comes out, while technophobes reject all kinds of new technology with equal fervour. Then there are those in the middle strata who are slowly catching up with all the new devices that appear on the market. Regardless, unless we live in an Amish-like society (in which case you would not even be reading this), however much we dislike technology (or are enamoured with it) we will have to come in contact with it.
Everything that we do will necessarily affect us in some manner. In fact, almost everything that someone else does will affect us in some manner. I term this the “Law of Interconnectivity of all Decisions”. Technology created by others, will influence us either positively or negatively. A neutral influence is no influence at all. Likewise, that man will be changed by new technology is not in doubt. What is up for debate is how this technology will modify human personality. Obviously, the more ‘plugged in’ one is invariably correlates to the more influence new technology has on him. With the relentless push towards new technology all peoples will have to embrace it eventually, whether willingly or otherwise. This will in time, just like societal upheavals of the past, creates a new human person.
Technology has without doubt, transformed the world we live in. It has made work more efficient and effective; global correspondence is only as far away as a click of a mouse instead of the actual distance of geography. It has allowed precious many things to escape the ravages of time; we are now able to keep many memories that we would otherwise not be able to hold on to. It has redefined the concept of time; what once took five months to prepare can now be done in five minutes. In the 1970/80s and early 1990s – when modern technology was not as developed or accessible, our youth played games such as 5 stone, rock paper scissors and chopsticks. Moving into the 21st century, PC games followed by other console games ascended in popularity. There is even a growing trend of PC gamers playing games into their late 30s and 40s.
The most pervasive change is in communication. Email has replaced snail mail, SMS has replaced face-to-face conversation, and MSN has replaced verbal conversation. Human communication has been radically modified as a result. People at a restaurant whip out their mobile phones and message their friends instead of speaking to those at the table with them. Although less than 10 pace away, colleagues prefer to send emails consisting of single words or msn each other. Step into the rail way or public transport and the first that greets you is a bevy of commuters and their devices, even friends and couples do that. Social communication context has been drastically altered. In a Lamarckian[1] sense, what does not get used often will wither away, and direct, face-to-face communication has progressively been eroded. While Social networking sites help in making friends, can anything really replace direct interaction? A picture of the Ha Long Bay may be beautiful, but it does not take the breath away like being there does. Spectacles do augment weak eyesight, but it is ultimately not the eye. This will lead to increasing social ineptness. It is ironic that the more we know of human psychology and body language, the less in-tune we become with it.
Having said that, what we lose in direct communication, we gain in technologically-aided communication. Human sensitivity has been redirected and readapted to a new habitat. Verbal sensitivity is now more important that Visual and Vocal sensitivity. It gives people an opportunity to express and release emotions they otherwise would not show or keep to themselves (See Internet Privacy). The socially inept person is a completely different person digitally.
The immediacy of new technology brings on another profound change in the human person. Companies market their service products by promoting data rate – the maximum amount of data that can transferred per second. With every bit of new technology, speeds increase and ‘immediate’ and ‘instant’ get redefined. The actual time that lapses for “why is it taking so long” becomes progressively shorter. Lagging is a term that has been reinvented for this purpose. This immediate gratification results in greater impatience, and causes delayed gratification to lose its purpose. Faster has become synonymous with better. In fact, “Cheaper, Faster and Better” is one of the chief catchphrases for many industries nowadays.
The practical benefits of new technology are undeniable, yet there are also immeasurable changes to human character. As a whole, it is to inter-human relations that technology creates the biggest detriment. The New York Times published an article entitled Love in 2-D, in its Phenomenon section last June[2] in which it reported on an extreme group of fanatical otakus (people who like Japanese anime), within the otaku culture. Obviously, it is at the extreme end of things. There is nothing wrong with the otaku culture. It is when, through less competent inter-human interaction, the social animal (that is the human) finds in digital fiction an artificial replacement for reality that it becomes a problem.
It was through the hunger of interaction that modern technology was created. Yet that interaction, instead of filling our hunger, has stuffed where we would it rather not, and radically distorted the way we interact. Humans created modern technology, yet instead of being our slave, technology seems to have swapped roles with its master. We began by influencing it, but it has turned around to manipulate our personality and because of that how we want to ‘control’ it.
We embrace technology because it is inevitable, and it is unavoidable because it does have many positives to it. Like it or not, nothing except perfection is flawless, and technology too has its problems. Since the comet of technological advancement will cause waves to roll across society, we’d better open our eyes to it before impact.
[1] Lamarckian consideration, without contradicting Darwinian evolution is gaining traction the scientific circle.
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-2DLove-t.html
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Its so true, our urge to communicate even further has inevitably taken away from true communication. I was fine up till I realized how people were able to say things they couldn’t to someone’s face, but say it digitally. Technology has allowed an inner fake human to be created, where they have lost their true selves in the midst of digital communication. Technology was perfect in the 60′s-90′s. Then when texting , emails, and msn were created, it really took away from the true meaning of communication. We need to use our senses again, hearing, feeling, and seeing (and not seeing words when communicating). It truly angers me . Thankyou for this article, I was looking for someone with a similar understanding of this serious but foggy issue.