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1. The law of unintended consequences - This is more of an undergirding principle for the rest of the ways technology can hurt us, but it’s hugely underestimated. Think of technological side effects. Nuclear fuel brings nuclear waste. Computer monitors bring eye strain. Fast cars bring fatal accidents. But it’s the effects that no one foresaw that can really hurt us. … 2. Accelerating our lives - How many of us feel completely strained by the pace of life? The information age put Moore’s law into effect in our days and nights. Computers work fast - and I guess so should we. 3. Connecting us anywhere - Isn’t it great to be able to get to work from anywhere? Well, sometimes it is and sometimes it’s a royal pain. I think of the time I was watching fireworks with my kids as an acquaintance compulsively checked his email. That was painful. 4. The deluge of information - How many emails, voicemails, etc. do you get a day? Is the amount crazy or is it just me? Ok, I think we could all agree that it’s out of hand. But that’s just correspondence. There are so many other avenues for information, and just so little time. Sometimes I think we should kill the noise without to hear what’s going on within. But that’s just me. 5. Unfiltered media - If we consumed liquids and food like we consumed media, our bodies would be, um, interesting. I’m not talking censorship here. I am talking about a thoughtful approach to how we consume media on a personal level. Do we simply take what we’re given or do we think about it and how it relates to item #1? 6. Connecting but dividing - Technology can give us a sense of connection to people. But are we really connecting with people or is it a false connection? What happens when we can “connect” with 25 friends on a social networking site, but we neither meet with them physically nor truly know who they are. The internet can foster anonymity. The problem is that we want to be anonymous and yet we really want people to know us. Can we have it both ways? 7. Environment plundering - I think we can all agree that we have abused the earth. It’s really great to see so many folks concerned about it. We need to use the earth’s resources, but it’s how we use them that counts. Does technology foster protecting the environment or does it engender plundering? Yes, yes the people harnessing the technology makes a huge difference. But, as #1 has shown, technology sure can make a mess of our world. 8. Dependence on technology - There’s no dialing the clock back to 1900. Duh. But how often do we place total,unfettered reliance on one technology? What happens if that technology has to go away for some unforeseen reason? What happens if that technology actually hurts us? 9. Domination - Great technology in the hands of the wrong people is a very bad thing. This has always been the case, but the current quantum leaps in technology up the ante. Sure, powerful technology can help unseat tyrannical powers at the hands of the small and weak. I’m not denying that. But I shudder at the thought of a maniacal leader with powerful technology. 10. Distraction - How many times have we been promised greater productivity at the hands of technology? And how many times do we find ourselves spending more time on the technology instead of using it? I hear this complaint at least once a week from clients. [tags]technology, bad effects, technology hurts us[/tags] Related Posts:Can You Hear Me Now? The amount of research and ingenuity that goes into building the military killing machine is staggering. Two non-lethal technologies... Cyberkinetics Brain Technology You are looking at research by a company called Cyberkinetics. This is cutting edge technology in the area thought... About Us Paul McGillivary Hello, my name is Paul McGillivary and I am the editor of PaulTech. Yeah, I know, super creative. I... Is a Voting Machine a Good Thing? Technology is a two edged sword. Technology can grant enormous power to the wielder. But dependence on technology,... Add PaulTech Many Ways Please pardon the dust around here.... Comments4 Comments so far |
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It all comes down to whether technology controls you or vice-versa. If you can prioritize then you are in control. A friend once said “things are the way they are because you must like it that way, otherwise you would have changed it”. Never be a victim.
Dad’s always right….. =)
I agree that technology has harmed us in more ways than we would like to admit. Everybody is familiar with the idea that although technology is supposed to make things more convenient for us, in reality, all it does is raise expectaions of how much an individual can do within a given amount of time. With technology, we’re always expected to do things faster.
Living in this fast paced environment is deterimental because it limits how much care we put into our actions. We say we’re familiar with the idea of the internet and databases, but I’m not afraid to admit that it’s all very abstract to me; outside of my understanding. This leads to many of the problems mentioned in this post. We assume that any email we sent just gets tossed into oblivion and no one of importance will find it. We assume that keeping information on a computer is safe and secure because we don’t see anybody else log into it.
The information we put online doesn’t have to be a public announcement or something that controls you. But it will be if we continue to not educate ourselves about the issues we are facing today with digital technology in our lives.
Paul (& others)-
Very good stuff here. I have had similar thoughts and am really impressed w/ the way you broke it all down. I totally agree with “dad’s” opinion that, like anything, we guard against being made the victim — a great way to say that.
Regarding mroonie’s 1st paragraph, I would like to add the additional idea that not only does new technology lead to higher expectations, but it introduces additional opportunity for error (due to inherent imperfection in every additional step of the process).
So, now that I have a computer, I can do more in a day and I schedule accordingly. Unfortunately, there is always “that day” when the internet is down, my power supply died, the upgrade I did to my OS suddenly caused another piece of software to NOT work correctly, … So, our schedules are typically built around the assumption that things will go as planned. This works great when we allow 15 minutes to walk down the street to meet a friend for dinner — very little to go wrong (i.e. we would have to fall ill or be injured en route). But, introduce a car and things get trickier (e.g. traffic and auto reliability are added to the mix of things that can go wrong). In the case of technology, the opportunities for error on vastly increased. Thankfully, the reliability of individual components is very very high.
Any way, it is something I have wanted to discuss, and it is cool to have this outlet. I am sure there is a catch-all term for what I am describing, but I am not sure what it is.
Ironically, I am glad to be able to use this functioning computer, via a network, to reach the internet, to see my.yahoo, to get my rss feeds, to see Paul’s posting, to follow the link, to register this post!
Great comments all! The happy medium I want strike personally is to use technology thoughtfully. It’s so easy to let the tail wag the dog! I’m reminded of that part in the movie “Office Space,” where the guys are in the field beating a piece of electronics, putting technology back in its place. Technology is power, but sometimes it’s good to see natural power - in people, in nature, etc.