We have always been a technology dependent society. The use of and reliance on tech is an exponential relationship. The second new tech is introduced into our culture / society, use of it becomes entirely dependent on the efficacy and benefits the new tech affords us. This dynamic renders many practices obsolete, finding us abandoning many aspects of our lives we originally relied on. We find ourselves never going back / relying on the old methods of things, and therefore this makes the relationship exponential. We keep adding, innovating, and creating new ways to go about things with existing tech that transforms into new tech. the cycle never stops. For example, online textbooks make actual pages obsolete. To extreme extents, innovations like virtual reality can make socializing and leaving the house, essentially obsolete as well. Online shopping has rendered stores less popular and minimized human interaction. Everything is digitalized, fast processed, and completely different depending on technology's trends.
Growing up in a tech dependent generation, being tech savvy is entirely necessary, despite your personal preferences or not. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t escape using technology because everyone around me depends on it, which would make me fall behind the social, professional, and academic curve. That's how reliant our society is on technology, we must operate in this spectrum or else we are clueless to the way things work. With this being said, I think my relationship with technology is healthy. I only say this because my parents are much older than most of my peers'. I grew up needing to be adept in the "old ways" and new ways of my generation. I grew up reliant on tech but at the same time my parents would force me to commit to traditions familiar to them. For example, in school I hated math. I would want to just look up all the answers to problems from a math website. This was the easy way out, this was the tech way. However, my parents made me do the math without websites or even calculators. So, I was able to memorize times tables and now they're engrained into my mind, I don’t even have to look them up. It's the same thing with memorizing my family's phone numbers. I do not need a saved contact to call any member of my immediate family. For when tech fails us, or turns on us, we must know alternative ways. I would say I give tech an appropriate amount of time (to a certain extent). I edit a lot, so I do spend copious amounts of time in front of screen, relying on my software to create art and express myself. But when this is done, I'll read a book or do something physical to give my mind a break. Mainly, I think tech is valuable as a fast and easy resource, not necessarily a lifestyle. I think tech does take up too much of my life, but this is all I have ever known. I long for the day where I can go off the grid and live a simpler lifestyle, but this is unrealistic until my ducks are in a row (which won’t be for some time now). I just enjoy a quiet atmosphere with less noise and news. But I'll never fully abandon technology because the communication efficiency and the fact that I need to… NEED TO… watch movies all the time, makes it something I must keep in my life. However, we do need to know how to use it more responsibly and carefully as to not cloud our minds and lives with unimportance. We must take extra time to learn how tech impacts us, the gravity of its impact, and how to avoid the cons of tech like fake news, cyberbullying, and dangerous online dynamics. I still view it as necessary in this digital age, but everyone can benefit from unplugging for a bit, even if it's just for a couple days. As important as technological innovation is, human connection is still entirely necessary as that's how we gauge our understanding of empathy and relatability amongst what seemingly divides us. 
In the time of this pandemic however, it becomes hard to unplug as all we can do is sit home and comb through social media for some sort of entertainment now. BBC's article on "How will coronavirus change the way we live?" highlights this dependency on tech, media, and other forms of digital/online entertainment, socialization, education, and professionalism. As of now, half the world is digitalized, using tech innovations to maintain some semblance of normalcy in our lives. From Zoom for online classes and business meetings, to VR for boredom, this pandemic has rendered us entirely dependent on the technology that surrounds us. If anything, what I have learned about technology through this whole pandemic, is that most of it is not as reliable as we have originally thought it to be. From needing WIFI for it to work to the actual longevity / durability of software and algorithms, tech still has a long way to go before we consider it an absolute necessity or become entirely dependent on it. For now, I'll take tech in strides of moderation, still making efforts to be up to date on all unfolding innovations though. This is the double-bind of technology, we try not to lose ourselves in it but at the same time, seem to need it no matter what.
No comments:
Post a Comment