The Effects of Excessive Use of Technology
In our modern time, the advancement of technology increases at an exponential rate. The creation of new technology, such as computers, creates more efficient machinery and is replaced by that which they have created. It is maintained in a cycle known as “autocatalysis,” where the product becomes a catalyst in its own development. What was once a new and innovative technology today will be rendered obsolete in a month. Is our technology growing too quickly? In what direction is our technology leading us towards and what has become of us because of it?
Generally speaking, research and technology has the potential to serve between two extremes of progressing towards a utopian society as well as nefarious purposes that is detrimental to the existence of mankind’s health and environment. This phenomenon is known as “duel use technology” (Pustovit, Williams). The development of technology is dependent on the intentionality and moral values of those that create and support its creation, creating multiple dualistic conflicts such as natural and artificial, life and death, and development and stagnation/destruction. The term of dual use technology was first used with the association of military technology, which can be used for protection as well as destruction.
Duel use technology can be approached in a pragmatic perspective and a metaphysical perspective. In a pragmatic perspective, the technology we created served whatever purpose they were created for. Under a metaphysical perspective of technology which deals with human nature and social relations, the use of technology begs the question, “At what cost?” In the dualistic conflicts of technology, this includes civilization leaning towards an artificial reality, stagnation, international opposition and war, or in other words, the degradation of mankind.
Technology can be looked at as a poison and with all poison, what is crucial is its dose. John Naisbitt describes the symptoms of poisoning by high technologies as a worship of technology; the absence of distinctions between reality and fantasy; the acceptance of violence as a normal part of life; alienation as a characteristic of human life (Pustovit). Technology here is no longer a means of advancing civilization but is now a toy. He also attributes “internet poisoning” to lack of decision making, reflection, infantilism and alienation.
Studies have shown many detrimental effects of the use of technology on our mental capabilities. Many of these symptoms are the cause of the disease that is adopting a virtual lifestyle. The average person spends about 68 hours a month on the internet and some experts believes this leads to impatient, impulsive, forgetful, and narcissistic (Warren). Nicki Dowling, a clinical psychologist, questions the internet’s addictive qualities and its effects calling it“internet dependence” (Parker-Pope). Nicholas Carr claims that the internet “speaks to the parts of our brain that are attracted to movement, visual imagery and novelty — primitive parts of the brain that do not lend themselves to deep thought and contemplation” (Greenblatt). Studies also show that multitasking, such as watching the television while speaking on the phone, diminishes the minds long term memory processes due to a constant exposure to new information. This leaves your mind in a constant state of activity allowing a minimal amount of time for digestion and retaining information also inducing mental fatigue. The use of a phone for business purposes also causes stress rather than creating an organized less stressful outlet and compulsive sense of responsibility to stay connected (Richtell). Excessive internet usage can also lead to a deprivation of attention, as the polymath economist Herbert A. Simon explained in the most concise possible description of our modern struggle: “What information consumes is rather obvious: It consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it” (Anderson). Carr also argues that computers are destroying human concentration calling it an “ecosystem of interruption technologies” making people crave constant new information making us into servants of our own gadgets.
The internet itself in essence is not evil. It is a very easily accessible means of obtaining information. Some scholars argue that while it may make some obsolete skills we need today, it allows for more information for better decision making (Anderson, J., & Rainie, Lee). Many scholars also believe that the internet has been a positive force in the social world based on the idea that the internet provides for a frictionless mode of communication (Anderson, J., & Rainie, Lee). Social circles are no longer limited by the interactions of daily life but is extended to old friends as well as opening opportunities to make new ones allowing the luxury of being picky with their friends with a low investment and low opportunity costs (Kang).
While it is true that the internet is a beacon of information, Carr argues that much of it is fragmented by means of search engines which can lead to complete studies or multiple websites with tidbits of fun facts. This also contributes to a decline of literary intelligence. A study was conducted analyzing academic articles and showed that articles citations are dwindling and are now focusing strictly on recent studies rather than researching the background and chronology of topics (Lehrer). Lehrer also states: “[Socrates] lamented the invention of books, which ‘create forgetfulness’ in the soul. Instead of remembering for themselves…new readers were blindly trusting in ‘external written characters.’” This idea of the creation of books parallels that of the internet.
The internet has a dual identity of being a tool for the development of man as well as the degradation of civilization. The goal that is achieved is solely based on the intent of its user within the understanding of human nature as vulnerable, responsible and identifiable. All human intentions that concern the use of technologies need to be considered in the context of the human being as vulnerable and earthborn, coexisting with other living creatures in a common world and being responsible for saving and developing life. The constant rapid development of technology widens the gap between those who have access to it and those who do not acts as a divider of the people, shaping our environments and thus our individual understanding of life. The advance of technology has the capability of uniting mankind, developing the global human civilization rather than segregating under terms of “developed” or “undeveloped” nations. We as a people need to begin to take into consideration the whole population and step out of the virtual reality we are suffocating ourselves around. The deeper we indulge in the virtual lifestyle, the closer we get to the “Uncanny Valley” but instead of technology chillingly imitating humanity, it is us who have begun to live like robots of the modern age.
