Despite my uncertainty of the implications of technology on humans, I do believe it is clear that technology touches our behaviors in clear ways. For example, some changes I have seen is in our ability to socialize and our ability to show patience. Frequently, when I’m out dining with my husband or walking around I will see a pair or group of people all with their devices out, no one looking at each other or interacting with each other. Another such time I’ve noticed this constant need to be entertained is while driving. Whenever I look at other people in their cars whether it be at a stop light or a traffic jam everyone has their devices pulled out, swiftly scrolling through some page or another.
As one of the few individuals I know without a smartphone, I have to ask how do you resist the pressure of obtaining such devices? Is it worth it to resist? What is it about American culture that makes us so busy and stressed? Are other cultures with as much technology dependency as America so stressed? If not, why?
I asked my husband about technology’s effect on cognition
and I found that what he had to say rang true. My husband said that with the
increase of technology we are better able to find information but less able to
remember it.
Rachel, I see similarities in my own behaviors with examples you have mentioned. I have always been impatient, but I feel that technology has made me even more impatient. I expect everything to be fast, and I am often on my phone if waiting for something, like in a doctor's office or for a table at a restaurant to help subside my impatience. The dining example you gave reminds me of my sisters. They are often on their phone during family dinners, isolated from the conversation.
ReplyDeleteI think that American culture is so busy and stressed because of our focus on work. I think that the typical workload we take on personally and for actual work is often more than we can healthily handle, but it has somehow developed into the norm.
The firs part of your post made me think about a coffee shop situation where a couple will sit around a table and look into their laptops with only sporadic small talk and no meaningful conversation. I am wondering if it's not similar to a situation in the past where the same people would have read newspapers and not talk to each other at all. I don't know if this situation could be result of some preferring personal conversation and exchange of opinion and some people preferring the company just of a media of their choice.
ReplyDeleteRemark of your husband about the abundant access to information and inability to retain it sounds with a lot of sense. I like the way you put it.
Interesting point, Ivelin, about people's personal preferences. Even if your coffee shop example touches truth I still believe the increase in individuals decreasing interaction in place of their screens is significant. Coffee shops are one example but what about driving, going to dinner, and watching movies. Whenever I watch a movie with my husband he always has his iPod out playing some game or another, unable to be solely entertained by the movie.
ReplyDeleteI was considered a laggard in 2006 when I purchased my first cell phone. It took me 6 months after that to acquire text messaging. Since then, and the integration of my techie husband, I now have too many devices. I agree with you about the impatience, I see it not only in others but sometimes within myself. When I call myself out on it I'm embarrassed that it even happened in the first place, because it seemed rather silly to be impatient at all. I also have to agree at the mounting concern for technology usage in face-to-face interactions but even more so while driving. I was watching a tv show call Perception (great show if you haven't seen it) and the main theme was about cognitive blindness. One of the statistics that the main character, the neuroscientist, spewed out during a debate was that thousands of accidents are reported monthly involving a cell phone. And they were using it while walking!
ReplyDeleteI had a student do a persuasive speech on cell usage in vehicles, one of the suggestions she gave was the put the phone or purse in the back seat so you're not tempted to use it. I found that it not only works, I'm a huge advocate for NOT texting and driving, but also works at home. I strategically keep my distracting tech devices out of sight while working on something that requires a lot of attention and effort.