Everywhere you look today you’ll find somebody with a smartphone. The technology has, quite simply, changed everything. With all the apps available now we can use a single handheld device for almost any task: calling, texting, mailing, note taking, listening to music, taking pictures, and even for working out or reading books. Our technology has finally reached a point where a whole series of daily activities can be done (or at least done more efficiently) using a single gadget.
The statement “Changed our lives” has a lot of weight, though. This includes our time management, priorities, social interactions, work, and play. Twentieth century philosopher Martin Heidegger even argues that technology changes the very way we think.
But when we say technology changed our lives, we mean that it’s changed the way we live. And there are varying opinions on whether or not this new way is better or worse than that of the previous century. Some say life has never been better—that the amount of things stuffed into a few technological marvels has made most of our lives easier. Others would like to say that technology has destroyed us, deforming our society by changing the way we act towards and around people. Who has the final say? Are we liberated by or chained to our gadgets?
Technology as tools
The original Greek word techne is often translated to “craftsmanship,” “craft,” or “art.” It evokes the need for skill to create something that is both useful and beautiful. Over time technology became more about its uses. Technological innovations like the plough revolutionized human society in such a profound way that it saw us create more art, build bigger cities, and take human civilization another step towards the present.
The latest civilization-altering revolution has been the one on information, and the Internet is that one piece of technology that was essential to make it happen. Never before has a person held so much information in the palm of his hand. My five-year-old cousin has literally more access to information than my grandfather did when he was in college—everything today is just a Google search away.
Technology, in a sense, liberates us. Tools, in their very essence, are meant to make work easier. Writing with pencil and paper is easier than writing with two rocks and a slab of granite. Easier and more efficient work means we work faster, which also means we have more time to do more stuff we want to do rather than be occupied by needs. Technology frees us to pursue our passions, hobbies, and interests. We don’t need to go out in the forests and hunt because we have an entire civilized system that ensures proper distribution of food. Hooray for agriculture!
Smartphones make life easier. Instead of having so many tools for so many different things, now you have just one gadget for everything. This frees us up to do more things. More importantly, the technology we have allows us to do these things at the same time and in quick succession. When everything works flawlessly, it grants us what the tech companies advertise: Control over our lives. Freedom.
Technology as something else
Do we really control our lives though? Isn’t the opposite a more common experience for people today? I was having some quiet time reflecting recently (looking out a window actually) when all of a sudden my phone rang. For a brief second I just felt like screaming, “Leave me alone!” And I know can’t be the only one who’s felt that way.
Look at any number of articles that people share on Facebook or Twitter and you’ll find some that recommend going “off the grid” in order to de-stress and unwind. It’s also quite common for us to know a friend (you know, that guy) who can’t function without their gadgets. Take away their phones or tablets and you take away their planners, documents, connections and conversations, work, and life.
Maybe there is another side to the latest technological revolution. We are now, more than ever, pinned to our devices. They have become such an essential part of our lives that we become paralyzed without them. By being liberating, technology also becomes very limiting.
The most constant argument against our heavy use of handheld devices is the way it has changed our personal interactions, especially with children. Kids are on their phones or tablets all the time these days or at least that’s how the complaints go. There’s a constant concern in the way we interact because we no longer interact. Meals have become silent except for the constant tapping of fingers on screens. Conversations tend to breakdown into brief moments of sharing something new, something viral, on small screens. We might even ignore the person in front of us in favor of texting others.
There is disquiet in the way the virtual world seems to have hijacked our values, with an ever increasing number of debates on how the new generation of kids have become more narcissistic, developed more fragile egos, are unable to handle rejection, etc.
Although technology grants us power to do many things it also has power over us. It shapes us—the way we behave, the things we give importance to, the way we think—and we have become so reliant that maybe, indeed, we ourselves have become caged by the very “freedoms” our gadgets give us.
Our role
We have our own part to play in this human transformation. Granted, those calling for caution in our reckless pursuit of more compact, more efficient, and more advanced technology have a few good points: Our technology does have power over our society. However, that power doesn’t necessarily have to be bad.
It’s unavoidable; we will be changed by technology. Those who long for a “simpler time” and seek to find a world without the constant bombardment of information, cut off from the cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, have to accept that it’s impossible to bring the entire human race with them. For better or for worse the information revolution has happened and it’s impossible to go back. Asking for that is like asking for us to drop our modern farming methods and go back to the hunter-gatherer lifestyles of our ancestors.
Maybe if we’re all aware of both the good and the bad we can steer ourselves better. Stop your kids from bringing their devices to the dinner table, but try and get in on that online fun and make a Clash of Clans account of your own. Use Facebook and Twitter to enrich your social interactions instead of to replace them. Try and have backup hardcopies of important documents or notes just in case something happens to your phone (the dangers of putting all your eggs in one basket). Use every means available to connect to the information highway, but always remember to take a break form it every now and then. Our technological devices are only tools, after all, and it’s up to us how we use them.
