The Effects of Technology

[Pearl]

How about a thread where we discuss the good and not so good effects of all the recent technology these days, and wonder where it will lead us?

We can start with this video, which has a lot of truth to it:

I Forgot My Phone - YouTube

[BVS]

Will it change the way we interact? Absolutely, it already has. But every advancement has come with some type of hesitation; the telephone, email, you name it... we adapt and normalize it. I think sometimes we forget how young "technology" is in the big scope of things. I watched a recent U2 interview and they were talking about how rock n' roll is only 60 years old and we're already talking about the death of it, we take it for granted and wish it will always be a part of society, but the truth is, it may not.

I am more curious about how it might effect us physically, the research is in the toddler stage, but some believe phone, tablet, and laptop technology might cause cancer. I'm curious as to how we will react to that if it turns out to be true.

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by BVS

Will it change the way we interact? Absolutely, it already has. But every advancement has come with some type of hesitation; the telephone, email, you name it... we adapt and normalize it. I think sometimes we forget how young "technology" is in the big scope of things. I watched a recent U2 interview and they were talking about how rock n' roll is only 60 years old and we're already talking about the death of it, we take it for granted and wish it will always be a part of society, but the truth is, it may not. I am more curious about how it might effect us physically, the research is in the toddler stage, but some believe phone, tablet, and laptop technology might cause cancer. I'm curious as to how we will react to that if it turns out to be true.

Speaking of toddlers, I'm curious about how the brains of children who started using tablets at age two or younger will be effected. That research is still at its early stages too.

I do think we are forgetting how valuable human interaction is, sans technology. Last year during Superstorm Sandy where whole areas lost power, some people said they rediscovered eye contact and just sitting around talking with no phones, TV or laptops to distract anyone. They admitted to feeling more connected to each other.

[bono_212]

Originally Posted by Pearl

I do think we are forgetting how valuable human interaction is, sans technology. Last year during Superstorm Sandy where whole areas lost power, some people said they rediscovered eye contact and just sitting around talking with no phones, TV or laptops to distract anyone. They admitted to feeling more connected to each other.

I always find comments like this to be interesting. Simply because they are their own form of hesitation in finding ways to connect change with the familiar. The reaction always seems to be to vilify the online activity and glorify the personal. To me, the middle ground of joining the two and adapting them together is going to lead to a far more socially exciting existence. That requires balance, however and I realize there are certainly people who tip the scales far too far to the digital side. On the other hand, those who refuse to enter the digital era kinda look to people like myself to be those who are just being, for lack of a better word, stubborn.

I've always gone on about how much I value the relationships I have formed through this website. That will always be the case. I have a wonderful personal relationship with many, many people in my life. Thanks to the Internet, I'm able to react with far more people, on a daily basis, than I ever could in my childhood/adolescence. Then, of course, are my friends who live overseas. I will likely never meet them, but I'm OK with that, because it's just a fact of life in this era, and I am content with the digital contact that we have on a regular basis.

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by bono_212

I always find comments like this to be interesting. Simply because they are their own form of hesitation in finding ways to connect change with the familiar. The reaction always seems to be to vilify the online activity and glorify the personal. To me, the middle ground of joining the two and adapting them together is going to lead to a far more socially exciting existence. That requires balance, however and I realize there are certainly people who tip the scales far too far to the digital side. On the other hand, those who refuse to enter the digital era kinda look to people like myself to be those who are just being, for lack of a better word, stubborn.

I've always gone on about how much I value the relationships I have formed through this website. That will always be the case. I have a wonderful personal relationship with many, many people in my life. Thanks to the Internet, I'm able to react with far more people, on a daily basis, than I ever could in my childhood/adolescence. Then, of course, are my friends who live overseas. I will likely never meet them, but I'm OK with that, because it's just a fact of life in this era, and I am content with the digital contact that we have on a regular basis.

I agree there needs to be a balance between digital life and real life. Even though I've met great people online myself, those type of interactions do not match what happens in real life, so I personally don't value digital relationships as much. Its like the internet or smartphone is like a barrier between actual interaction, even if someone is using Skype or Facetime.

[bono_212]

Are you saying you don't value the relationships of people you have met digitally as much as those you've met in person? I'm just trying to be clear.

If that's what you're saying, being married to someone I met online, I can't really agree with that sentiment

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by bono_212

Are you saying you don't value the relationships of people you have met digitally as much as those you've met in person? I'm just trying to be clear.

If that's what you're saying, being married to someone I met online, I can't really agree with that sentiment

Yes, and that doesn't mean those online relationships mean little to me. I just prefer eye contact, patting shoulders, hearing voice tones, etc. over words on a screen or a Skype chat.

In the case of your husband, you obviously went on to meet him in person after establishing something online. I don't think you would've married him without meeting him first, would you?

[bono_212]

But your clarification was what I thought you meant, and not what I wrote in my post. You prefer the benefits of seeing someone in person (100% agreed), but don't entirely disregard online relationships because they lack that physicality and I certainly can agree with that. I'd much rather be able to talk to a person, even on the phone, for the most part.

However, I know that most of the people on here that I have met, I was super awkward with at first, because they seemed almost like perfect strangers in person. That feeling didn't last, but there has almost always been that lingering awkwardness.

[AEON]

As with anything, there are pros and cons to these technologies. Something like texting is great when you want to update a group about a last minute change in plans (it's not fun calling 7 different people at the same time). Facebook is great at keeping in touch with friends that don't live close and sharing pictures/life events with extended family.

Do these replace real human interaction? No. Can they have a healthy place in your life? Yes.

[Jive Turkey]

Originally Posted by AEON

Do these replace real human interaction? No. Can they have a healthy place in your life? Yes.

What I would find more interesting is if there are any evolutionary changes in humans because of technology. Now, technology changes so quickly that it wouldn't be anything specific like a texting thumb or something silly like that, but maybe a general increase in reaction times as a result of fatalities from traffic accidents. Some sort of broad adaptation to the overarching affects of technology

[AEON]

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

it wouldn't be anything specific like a texting thumb or something silly like that,

[AEON]

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

but maybe a general increase in reaction times as a result of fatalities from traffic accidents. Some sort of broad adaptation to the overarching affects of technology

Level-up life: how gaming can enhance your reality

NewScientist, 04 January 2012

Sophisticated video games have had demonstrable effects on their players. For example, people who frequently play action games often outperform non-gamers on measures of perception and cognition. Other studies have found that intense video game practice improved players' ability to carry out complex hand-eye coordination tasks and their contrast sensitivity.

[Kieran McConville]

Re. video games, well that just seems like commonsense to a degree. In the same way, someone who spends their days painting portraits or drawing graphic novels is likely to have rather more acute hand-eye coordination and visual perception than someone who, you know, doesn't. Someone who shoots people for a living is probably better at it than someone who doesn't.

[Pearl]

Technology can be unforgiving and uncompromising in terms of how much we are controlled by her, but we don’t have to let her treat us this way. We can still have control. If we want to harness the positives and admit that nothing is more important than how we engage in the present then we can start to focus more on the positive, productive and human-centric side of this wonderfully complex thing we’ve grown to love so much.

And with that, I’ll leave you with a quote from one of lifes great philosophers: Ferris Beuller.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you might miss it.”

Technology Wants You As Its Slave

[Kieran McConville]

Technology is a lady, is she?

[AEON]

Originally Posted by Kieran McConville

Technology is a lady, is she?

And she looks terrible naked.

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by Kieran McConville

Technology is a lady, is she?

I do find that comparison to be odd. Guess the author is going through a bad breakup

Originally Posted by AEON

And she looks terrible naked.