Indeed, we are amidst a new paradigm shift. Everything’s being electronized so that everything’s more compact and more efficient and more intertwined. It’s a process of societal unity. It’s vital to compete in this new age for growth. Email is the new medium of long distance communication and Facebooking is the new form of casual socializing. Online games is the new solitaire and Google Reader is the new magazine subscription.
As the new age unravel, more is available at our fingertips. And the growth is exponential; in a few years, you’ll find some additions to your phones that’ll seem almost incredulous now. However, the more growth in this direction, the more our life would be involved with it, and the more trust we would instill in this system.
It’s an efficient world. Very efficient. Snail mail that would take weeks now takes hours. What was fast is slow now.
The primary cause to our technological reliance is that the world is closing in to our finger tips. In order to stay fit, we must ride the wave. If we don’t, everyone else will be way ahead. The internet is the perfect product of the modern age. It’s powerful and convenient – I go online to check my email, watch videos, research, buy merchandise – all in one place! And it has the trust of the consumer – it’s free and it’s versatile in its medium.
However, we must beware. The Amish – and some old people – might be right about some things.
People are becoming increasingly more absorbed with the digital world due to the fact that it is so useful, connecting everybody in a society with the sleight of hand. However if you haven’t noticed, people are changing. Instead of spending time with friends, we are playing games online. Instead of watching movies and shooting the breeze with friends, we often catch ourselves sitting reclusively in front of a screen doing nothing in particular.
Like droning out boring advertisements, we slowly drone out life.
Luckily, in my opinion, this is no addiction. This is misuse and the correction is extremely simple. Go out away from the screen! You’ll want to feel connected, but don’t serve technology as it’s supposed to serve you. Go out! Find joy away from the screen. Weigh your life and consider the importance of people.
Technology is an imminent factor of growth today. And only when we tame ourselves can we truly tame technology, and thus tame the growth of society.
You gotta hand it to the Amish — they seriously know what’s important in life.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind a little more nesting/holding my children/hanging in my house than a little more technology.
And yet here I am, typing away… hypocrite much?
:)
I agree…it is an addiction…You have to pull yourself away from it. Unfortunately all the advances in technology are only making physical social interaction obsolete.
http://www.runtobefit.wordpress.com
i agree with you, as i sit here on my computer and my ipad to the left i need to get out the house. but yet here i am reading your blog haha. good post. the amish had it right.
http://enjoibeing.wordpress.com/
It sounds like an addiction to me. But I refuse to believe it. I’m still involved in my daily life, and I rarely use Facebook to keep in touch with friends who are just a phone call away. Yes, the bills are big, but hey, at least you can hear their voices instead of seeing posts on your profile!
Ashley
so true. i work in front of the computer the whole day. I go home and go back on the computer. i text on my commute. i sleep with my phone next to my bed and use it as an alarm. i definitely feel it’s effect on me. I want to break free/breathe fresh air/look at natural things and not pixels.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
http://beckyyk.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/alvin-and-the-chipmunks-and-my-grandfather/
I can see myself on your post… But at least I sometimes hang out with friends at the coffeeshop after work, discussing work or business with the laptop still in front of me :( Sometimes I want to have a computer-free week, haven’t had it for over two years now.
Don’t we all want to adopt those zen habits?
And we never seem to do, do we?
Bad bad habits.
*sigh*
Thanks for sharing this post. Everything is surely changing.. slowly, but surely. Our priorities, interactions with others, relationships, etc. etc… I can only imagine what this world will be like in another 10 to 15 years. I agree, there is a shift…
Use of technology matters a lot ! as shown in wall E cartoon that too much technology can baldly affect the environment of earth.
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As I sit here replying to your post. I think lots of people prefer this digital world because the “real” world stinks so bad that the only true reality they have comes at the end of their fingertips.
Great post. In my last post that I wrote on my site I wrote about ,”The Future is Now.” Definetinly technology has seemed to overpower us and has left a lot of us holding the bag and wondering “what happened”?
I highly recommend the book ‘What Technology Wants’ if you’re really interested (http://www.kk.org/) – It talks about the path technology had taken us.
Tehnoloģijas nestāvēs uz vietas,
Everywhere I go (out) these days, it’s wall-to-wall folks walking with their heads down, staring at their smartphones, wearing headphones.
It’s kind of a bummer, but I didn’t even notice it till I had an ear infection and I had to stop wearing headphones myself, for a while. Now there’s no going back for me.
So sometimes I kind of hope everyone would get an ear infection, or, like, finger cramps or something. But in a nice way.
I completely agree with you. I recently deleted my Facebook account because I realized I would just sit on there and not a) go out and live, or b) be productive (important with finals right around the corner). Just yesterday I watched a TV show with my roommate and it felt so refreshing to engage in an activity not on my laptop, where I am clicking between 3 or 4 windows at any given moment. I applaud this blog post.
wow. You sound like you have a goal in mind!
Kudos for you!
I completely agree with you. I wrote a post the other day about things that I couldn’t live without because I’ve tried and I’m embarrassed to say that all the things were technology related. My Blackberry, Computer, iPod, the Internet… I don’t particularly like the fact that they’ve digitalized books. I mean, yeah great more books at your disposal but it’s just taking away from the joy of holding a book in your hand, flipping through pages while curled in bed. It’s not exactly easy or comfy curling up with a computer or iPad (personally speaking).
It’s pretty scary how quickly we have all become so dependent on these gadgets. It’s all communication through skype, msn, facebook and interactive online games. It’s like everyone has forgotten how good it is to have actual face-to-face human contact that’s not through a screen! Lol This is a great post! Thanks for sharing and congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
it’s all a balance.
use your facebook to organize a block party.
build a website connecting local volunteers to organizations.
google the habits and ideas of the Amish – did you?
everything in moderation.
great post – i didn’t read you writing that it WAS an addiction, just that it COULD BE one if we aren’t careful.
yay technology! yay life!
Very basic posting.
Bit harsh………..
http://danjswade.wordpress.com
I agree that our lives are becoming more interconnected due to technology, but I certainly don’t think it’s a bad thing. Sure, some people do abuse it, as with anything, but for me it’s created a whole new lease of life. Friends I had lost contact with are now back in my life. My mother lives so far away from me, but is enjoying my daughter growing up through the internet.
So many good things. The only thing it can’t do is exercise! lol
http://danjswade.wordpress.com
Indeed. We must not ignore the positive effects.
In fact, I would agree with you that the good things about it can stretch endlessly. And it’s because of all these good things that makes it so great.
It’s like chocolate. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with chocolate.
Just watch your indulgence.
As a working senior of sixty-nine, and still deeply involved in our insurance casuality agency of twenty seven years, we find facing retirement a scary future. Our day to day contact with our customers, with its ups and downs in their own individual lives, keeps us young and connected. We have all the tools and toys, but have found our life forefilling in our day to day physical contact with people. We constantly find ways to actually call and talk to our customers and personal friends rather than e or text. Doing such, keeps our world in a realistic balance.
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Great post. Sometimes its just improbable to go out, e.g. when its extremely cold, or there’s no one to go with. I really do not like going out alone, so if there’s no friends or siblings/cousins who are free I tend to sit at home.
Unfortunately as technology gets smarter, we grow more and more obsolete. That”s a scary thought. It really is a “Brave New World”. Often times, professionals work with computers all day and come home to a nice television, a smartphone, and an ipad. Our ways of interacting are ever growing, however I believe we need to take a step back…especially as I sit here blogging for communications class.
lol. Is it possible for the singularity to be reached?
I was just thinking about this the other day. If something we create can surpass us, then we can surpass god. We cannot physically surpass god; thus technology cannot surpass us.