Dependence on Technology

Technological Dependence - Stealth Survival

We are dependent on technology. It is essential to the advancement of the human race, and we wouldn’t be where we are without it. While we usually have good intentions for our creations, things don’t always go as planned. We also can’t merely classify a certain innovation as good or bad. For example, automation in agriculture produces food at a faster rate, but a large number of jobs are lost. Every piece of technology comes with numerous benefits and advantages, but its own drawbacks as well.

Digital Technology

According to the United Nations (UN), “Technologies can make our world fairer, more peaceful, and more just” (4). Digital technology has contributed to medicine and health through AI. These technologies can diagnose diseases, making it safer for treatment and extending life expectancy. Education wise, distance learning and online education programs have reached people who have limited opportunities. The world literacy rate can be greatly improved through digital technology. All of these factors of digital technology can also reduce the world poverty rate.

Though, this begs the question: what about those of us who spend the majority of the day looking at screens? We spend so many hours scrolling on our phones, browsing on our computers, and watching TV. There are many reasons as to why we spend so much time on our devices. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Yet, many studies show that we humans are becoming addicted to our devices.

Nomophobia, the fear of being without a phone, was coined by the United Kingdom Post Office in 2008, during a study researching anxiety disorders that resulted from mobile phone overuse (3). Another study checking for nomophobia was conducted with undergraduate students in Health services, showing that over 20% of students were nomophobic, and over 60% of students were on the verge of developing nomophobia.

Nomophobia is becoming more common. Most of us probably have nomophobia without realizing it, or are on the verge of developing it. The pandemic hasn’t helped at all. It drove more and more people towards screens. We couldn’t find entertainment outside, so we turned to our gadgets. But, we should also be grateful that we had access to such technology, because we also couldn’t learn in the conventional setting. These digital technologies allowed us to continue our education, even when it was dangerous to go outside.

We can’t simply deem digital technology as good or bad. We turned to screens for education and work during this pandemic. Turning to digital technology for entertainment isn’t harmful, but overuse can be.

Automation

The human population is growing faster than ever before. New medicines are increasing the average life expectancy, and the death rate is declining. The ability to sustain a large population, in a world with limited resources, will always introduce new problems that call for clever innovations and solutions. Our growing population needs sustenance, so food must be produced quickly. Many machines can complete factory work faster than humans. Automation is perfect for efficiency. Many mass-produced products are created by machinery designed to do one thing: work. The more products are produced, the more people are satisfied. On the other side of the coin, people often lose jobs to automation and are unable to buy mass-produced products.

Conclusion

The human race couldn’t have made it to its current stage, without technology. While technology has many amazing features and capabilities, it also has many downsides. Since new technologies are being developed every day, the ethical concerns of technology are important to keep in consideration.

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~ Edited by Christian Mueth

References:

1. https://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/programs/oppa/technology_dev_%20paper.pdf
2. technology_dev_ paper.pdf (fema.gov)
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6510111/#:~:text=The%20term%20NOMOPHOBIA%20or%20NO,a%20particular%2Fspecific%20things%E2%80%9D.
4. https://www.un.org/en/un75/impact-digital-technologies

This article was originally published at the Teach-Technology Organization, Inc. online technology blog. I volunteer as a tech blog writer at this organization, which is dedicated to bridging the gap between seniors and technology. You can read this article (and many more) at the Teach Technology site.