The advancement of technology is crippling society. It’s like an infectious disease in desperate need of quarantine. We check our phones more than 100 times a day, watch countless episodes of our favorite series on Netflix and scroll social media blindly for something to engage in. We feel more connected through our devices than we do in reality. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at a social gathering where they care more about talking to people who aren’t there, than those who are. We’ve become consumed by entertainment so much that we can’t realize the world of information we have access to. Technology is a mirror reflection of our own potential. It is its’ own entity and has the power to progress beyond our knowledge because we feed into it rather than allowing it to feed into us. Technology has taken the lead over our own intelligence and capability as human beings. Instead of using it to our advantage, we’ve used it more as a crutch to lean on. There is no doubt that we have come a long way in making great use of technology and the internet to benefit many aspects of our lives, but today we’re reflecting on the negative impact toward society.
One of the most important thing that has been compromised due to the progression of technology is privacy. As you should know, everything is online in some shape or form. From your personal interests, to your address and social security number. Businesses are resulting to electronic correspondence in order to successfully keep track of data and eliminate paper waste. Although a lot of this information is confidential, it doesn’t necessarily make it impossible to access. After all, even our Federal Post Office has been subject to being hacked. The data from apps or websites on your electronic devices are actually soled to third parties in order to generate personalized advertisements. If you ever take the time to read Terms and Condition contracts before you sign them, you may begin to think twice. At this point in the evolution of technology, we are more vulnerable than we realize.
As human beings we have a natural desire to connect with others and be able to showcase who we are. In addition to that, we also have our own sense of identity we’d like to embody. With Social Media, that has become overwhelmingly possible. In the click of a button you are instantly connected with someone who may live thousands of miles away from you. Just as easy as that, technology has given you the ability to reach out within the comfort of your home and present yourself however you’d like. With easier access to information and tools, we can also share the things we identify with personally on several levels. This ability changes the way we interact in our physical reality. We create an image of ourselves on Social Media that has its own effect on both our subconscious and those who follow us. We indulge in the life we have on the web more than we indulge in the life we have in the spirit and flesh. The effect technology has is as infinite and boundless as our own consciousness. The power of the subconscious is that it’s constantly underestimated due to the fact that it’s impact can go unnoticed, making it easier to become progressive. When we indulge in various aspects of life differently it creates cognitive dissonance. Human beings can not function properly with cognitive dissonance, they have to begin to create illusions in order to remain mentally intact. This is just to give you an idea of the lengths people may go to on the internet when it comes to obsessing over different things. Parents gift their children electronic devices at younger ages as time goes by, not realizing the influence that comes along with it. The children are our future and on a constant basis they are bombarded with information and access they have no idea how to handle properly. Of 1240 interviewed in a poll conducted on Common Sense Media, 50% of teens, aged 12-18, feel they are addicted to their mobile devices and social media. There has been a progressive increase of suicide in teens over the last 5 years and more deaths due to distracted driving directly related to the impact of technology and internet usage.
Like I said earlier, technology and the internet is a mirror reflection of our potential. If we dedicated our time to using it to our advantage rather than something to keep us comfortable or pass the time, we’d tap into the greatness that lies dormant within it. The benefit of those advantages can become just as habitual as the usage if we commit ourselves to being more conscious of how and how often we use technology in our daily lives. I hope that this article opened up your mind to see the areas in need of attention and improvement in regards to technology/ the internet, while simultaneously presenting the boundless potential we have as human beings. You are the device in which the infinite potential resides.