I think that Marshall Davis Jones does an amazing job of portraying the digital society that we were talking about tonight in class. When it comes to this paradox of increased communication technology resulting in a deficit of personal human contact, I am still not sure where I stand. I can definitely agree with Marshall's ideas that by digitizing our methods of interaction, we are not only losing the potential development of true kinship with others, but also risking the physical devolution of our human bodies and the desensitizing of our human spirit. Nearly anywhere I go on any day, most of the humans I see are hunched over a laptop with horrible posture, or staring at their smartphone while they distractedly try to speak to a friend at lunch; and yet, I am only able to witness this during the odd occurrence when my own eyes are not directed at a small LED screen, so who am I to judge?
On the other hand, as both a scholar and world traveler, I am obviously very aware of how important and beneficial communication technology is (as I'm sure we all are) in spreading ideas, knowledge, and emotions to friends and family all around the world.
So what next? Marshall ends with the brilliant line, "When our technology is advanced enough to make us human again." Is that really a possibility? Will better technology someday allow us to communicate with anyone anywhere while we are standing upright, speaking face-to-face, and sharing emotions like homo sapiens have for centuries? Some may argue that with anything short of a teleporter, this "true" form of interpersonal communication will never again be obtained by society through the use of technology. Others may argue that it is not needed and that our digital communication is a much better form of communication that gives everyone an "equal playing ground" so to speak, since they don't necessarily have to worry about shyness or body language. Perhaps the problem is not in the technology itself, but in the way we use the technology and change our personal interactions in life.
I cannot escape the irony that I watched this YouTube video on a computer and then posted it to an internet blog (though for what it is worth, the video was originally described to me face-to-face by a friend). Wouldn't it be humorous if the key to solving this problem turned out to be the use of communication technology to spread this idea of emotional human interaction to people all over the world? What a revolution that would be!
Great video!
ReplyDeleteI think most if not all technology is about how we use it. In this context I think about chemotherapy vs. the nuclear bomb, both versions of the same basic science. One saves lives, one kills. In contrast, a lot of military tech ends up put to excellent civilian uses, such as radar and the internet.
We can choose to use a smartphone to translate and help us navigate. Or we can let it stand in the way of communication and keep our nose so close to the screen we no longer see the street around us. Neolithic technology, iron age technology, computer technology -- for me it is the same story. The ethics are not in the technology but in how we apply it.
I go to China, and I feel a great commonality with the young and technically savvy. I think that's good for world peace. Tech is helping us connect past cultural boundaries and prejudices.
Super interesting video and a problem that is being faced by our world and one that is brought up to us a lot by older generations particularly the Baby Boomers. I truly do agree that the technology benefits us in how it is used, but what if there is a benefit that people are forgetting about? I was thinking about this thought when reading the articles about dreams, about how sometimes dreams give you the courage to do something, because it helps to work out the relativity of each of the different possible outcomes. It helps us to become unafraid of the unknown? So what if technology is helps us to become afraid of the unknown? It helps us learn about places we never would of known about or learn about them in many different ways? or they help you strike up the courage to do something? What if technology is helping our society more adventurous and making us to branch out and try things? Communicate with people who we never would have before? Even though that drunk texting gets a bad rap sometimes technology facilitates meeting new people or saying that one thing that has been on your mind for days. So I agree that technology is all in how you use it, but what some people may not see is that in addition to being a tool for communication its making our society want to facilitate and branch out in more ways and can lead to lifelong relationships, even though many people think it prevents people from having relationships.
ReplyDeleteI love this video and agree with you response. It reminds me though that was we introduce more and more technology into our lives we are actually changing the way our brains function. Comparing teen that use technology with those who didn't. Poeple who grew up in a world surrounded by the internet, iPhones and computers have heightened skills of multi-tasking, complex reasoning and decision-making. But at a cost. These computer savy people have lower "people" skills, including emotional feeling empathy, and face-to-face communication skills.
ReplyDeleteIt partly just goes to show how malleable human brains are, but it also shows the unknown side effects of a technological revolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0