Are we slaves to technology?

 

I have this theory about modern technology that I have held for a long time and that seems to only be proving me right so far.

 When I was a child, mobile phones were only just beginning to hit the market. Of course, they were several times the size of the neat little phones carried around today! As I went to school and grew into my teenage years, modern technology and, in particular, modern means of communication really took off with new social media sites (remember Bebo and Myspace!?) and mobile phones seemed to evolve into these amazing, all encompassing and necessary additions to our hands. 

I'm sure it has happened to us all, when you're having a conversation with a group of friends or acquaintances and people are staring down at their phones whilst you are trying to engage them in a conversation, in true reality. The funny thing is not being able to pin-point exactly when this transition happened. When mobile phones became a bit of a 'replacement society' to substitute the present and at what point it became socially acceptable.

Growing up, mobile phones were not allowed at our dinner table and we were taught to give our full attention to whoever was speaking to us, which necessarily meant we did not dare look bored, or check our watch, and we certainly didnt get our phone out in front of somebody who was talking to us! But it sometimes seems as if the world has a totally different view these days.

Imagine going internet free for a day? Does the thought give you anxiety, or sound like a blissful retreat? 

A while ago I really wanted to get a smart phone, preferably an i Phone as apart from being 'all the rage' it would make blogging and capturing photos a hell of a lot easier! As it stands, I havent allowed myself a 'smart phone' because whenever I have had one I just felt slowly encouraged into a place where it was no longer possible to be physically away from my phone. I hated that feeling and found it more suffocating than helpful. I remember all too well that sense of being without a limb if your phone is not in your pocket, or preferably, your hand. And heaven forbid we leave the house without our mobile!? But how is that healthy?! And why are we so reliant on the internet for reassurance?

I have another theory that it comes down to self approval and the human condition and need to be loved. When somebody 'likes' an image we put on facebook, or when a friendly message is posted on our wall, all these things fill us with momentary satisfaction because they seem to answer that question: am I valuable? Is what I put on facebook important to other poeple? And more fundamentally, am I loved by other people?

The more I think about it, the more complex it seems and the more I think we are so vulnerable to needing affirmation from other humans, whether we care to realise it or not. But I do realise that we also live in the twenty-first century and adjustments on our parts are always going to be made to meet the ever evolving world of technology. We have adapted so much in the last ten years as it is, I can only imagine what the future holds!

I am by no means against the place technology holds in society, moreover, I am simply aware of it. And I think if we can all simply be aware of it, and of ourselves, we could find more ways to make technology work for us instead of allowing ourselves to become slaves to it...

...Just a thought I have been pondering this evening and I felt prompted to share.

love Bunty

xXx