It accesses and sends files, opens doors, maintains heart beats and keeps us up to date on "Branjolina," but does technology keep us together or does it push us further away from one another?
The internet is a hell of a thing, it has made business easier with rapid emails, video conferences and Iinstant Messaging services, but are we losing touch with our humanity as we use this technology? Sure, things like Facebook, MySpace and instant messaging clients like MSN messenger and Yahoo chat, have allowed us to maintain relationships with people we would have otherwise lost contact with years ago. However, how strong are these connections? are they merely things we feel are obligations or do we truly care about our 300+ friends on our contact list? Human nature and time act like waves on our sandbank of connections, it wipes away footprints that we have left in the past. On the other hand, with the advances of communication technology we have erected superficial and temporary barriers around each one of these connections, or foot steps. It shouldn't be a competition to have the most friends, but it shouldn't be difficult to maintain close relationships with a handful of people.
When I question humanity, I question whether we are beginning to think and communicate with more robotic mannerisms. Much like machinery we define a complicated thing, like languages, into a more simplistic lexicon. Things like BRB, ROFL and the dreaded LOL, have become such a strong staple in our society, it is being entertained by all media facets. Dropped in television shows, movies and even book titles, it hammers itself further into the English language. Even though the English language is evolving by growing and expanding, it could be said as the opposite, that if we took away the words we are losing or have lost, then the language would be decreasing into catch phrases and acronyms.
Instant pudding was just the beginning; a surge in instant gratification has pushed us for the demand of instant happiness. "Good things come to those who wait" is a saying that no longer applies to most of society. We have gotten so use to the "instant" factor that we come to expect it, rather than it being a privilege. As it was mentioned before, email and IM has allowed us to get instant answers from people in every corner of the globe. But hardly any of us have sent a letter to someone, in the same way we send emails. Yes, the cost is next to nothing with email, but this was a archaic technology that we relied on for years, going back to the dawn of communication, and now it is more or less left in the dust of technological advancement.
If we rely on the instant and easy technology, what happens in the event we are left without it. Many of us have been in that situation where the power is out and the only activities you can think of to pass the time require electricity. I am not saying we should revolt from technology and energy supplies, like hydro and fossil fuels, but to have a back up for when these things fail.
As technology evolves, society and humanity will simultaneously evolve with it, and this should be something that is watched closely. If we allow ourselves to rely soley on these advancements, we will be lost if and when it disappears.
