We can use it to know where our children are at all times, and with a couple taps of our thumb, let them know how dissatisfied we are with that choice of location. It allows us the luxury of being face-to-face with old friends and relatives from across the globe—instantly.
But, who can deny that all good things always come with a caveat?
Our cushy, 21st-century lives have become clouded with a noxious level of complacency. Technology has lured us into a false sense of security; one that has caused us to forget the primary operating objective, inherent to all living things—avoid extinction.
For the first time in history, our best technologists are more interested in making you an object of monetization, than solving the problems that hinder our race. The light bulb made us more efficient at night. Flying to the moon showed us that we are not bound to the confines of our planet. Currently, my Amazon Alexa is eavesdropping on my conversations and using what she hears to sell me stuff on Instagram. Which of these things is not like the others?
The real issue, however, is with social media. Overexposure into the lives of others has made us more self-conscious and inwardly-focused than we have ever been. It has created an environment of competition; where everyone is trying to accrue the most likes, retweets, or just, “I”M ON AN ISLAND IN A BIKINI! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!”
This superficial drive to one-up our peers, directly undermines the foundations that afford us the luxury of being superficial in the first place—communication and cooperation. Weevolved from a species that couldn’t sit upright and grunted as their primary form of communication; if progress is the goal, a quick look around any urban workspace with heads buried in phones and human interaction an afterthought, it’s clear we’re not winning. The unprecedented self-isolation created by social media does not advance our race, it makes us worse.
The coronavirus pandemic is not the wake-up call we wanted, but it may be the wake-up call we needed.
What was your initial reaction to seeing the extent of the virus in Italy? Sucks to be them—or maybe that was just me.
Yet, I think you would be lying if you claimed that your mind did not conjure some iteration of: couldn’t happen here. And while our reliance on technology can’t be blamed for causing a global pandemic, our reaction time has illuminated something quite concerning: we’re dangerously naive.
When you experience life as an ego-driven fantasy, you fail to properly process reality—until it’s too late. We saw what was happening in Italy and less visibly in China, but the comfort with which we have become accustomed to, led us to believe we were impervious. We’re Americans, and we’re invincible.
No—we’re not.
If you’ve spent any time in useful thought while quarantined, I hope you stumbled across a simple truth: We were once a select few, and now we number over seven billion. This proves that as individuals, we do not exist in a vacuum and were not created out of thin air; we came from parents who came from parents who came from parents that were more ape-like than human. In sum, the world is much greater than the I perceives it to be.
Thus, technology is only useful when we appreciate it for what it truly is—a reminder of how far we have come.
We started by flipping the scripts on the likes of sabertooth tigers, becoming the hunter instead of the hunted. We were then able to focus our attention on finding ways to feed ourselves en masse. Once that was settled, we began focusing efforts towards living healthier and longer (ongoing). Our ascendance up the food chain has undoubtedly led to a more comfortable existence than what was experienced by our primordial kin, but we’ve hit a snag.
Our snag is that recent technology is subconsciously forcing competition, and creating a sense of self that disregards the spirit of others, both current and past. Increased interconnectivity is good, but not when it comes at the expense of what makes us human.
We find ourselves in this technologically-blessed haven because of our unique ability to create synergy. If my head is buried in my phone while waiting in line at the grocery store, I shrink my world to me, and just me; missing opportunities to find random inspiration in the seemingly mundane. This thoughtless, inward-focused action robs us of the potential for ambiguity and growth that has been driving our race since its inception.
My advice is simple: Reconnect with loved ones, friends, nature, reality, yourself . Go for a walk and lose yourself in thought. Take a deep breath and remind yourself of what it is to be human. Appreciate the gift that is your existence. And please, leave your phone at home.
