We live during an iconic time. For the first time since the inception of the world, not only is more than half the world’s population literate but is also able to participate in written and recorded culture. We live in a time where technology is at its best, with the ability to take over human thought, ideas and principles. Human nature is baggy, flawed and with rough edges.
Up until now, technology has not been able to take over our minds. However, at the moment of time we are in, technology challenges us once again to ask what place we occupy in the Universe: what it means to be creatures of language, self awareness and rationality. Technology has been created by humans and keeps re defining what we as humans can achieve.
In the past, technology was used by people as a means of protection rather than something which has the possibility of developing into a larger idea. Now, technology is at a place where it can potentially rule our lives. We have stopped communicating with one another. We have stopped having real discussions, real feelings and meaningful connections.
Therein lies the paradox between technology and human beings. We are growing more distant from each other when we choose to make smartphones, computers and television our primary means of communicating with each other. Technology is a wonderful tool that is supposed to help humans improve their life quality but instead of that, it is preventing us from continuing to be able to form meaningful relationships with each other.
While we complain and fret about not being able to live the way we used to, there is also another important factor to consider. Trillions of dollars are being spent to make everything around us technology friendly. The world is becoming smarter – smart cities, smart farming, smart energy, but very little is spent on getting humans ready for that very near future. In fact, while machines get smarter we may actually become dumber.
There are a few poignant question which needs addressing here. When the time comes where our world is completely dominated by technology, are we at the risk of forgetting the basic things in life? Are we going to become so technologically dependent that our very way of life is at risk? Think about this while I sign off here: will you be able to live in a world where Social Media does not exist? Will you be able to live in a world where you do not have a smartphone in your hand or access to Wi FI at all.
