Are we becoming too dependent on technology?

In 2018, the villain’s route to world domination was virtual—he hacked into government security systems and agencies, coercing country heads to sign over absolute power by plunging the world into Internet-less darkness. If the ‘art imitates life’ argument holds water, this plot from Johnny English Strikes Again is an unlikely, yet telling sign of the times. And it has backing from experts across fields, including former journalist Robert Harris who believes the greatest threat in the world today isn’t nuclear warfare, it’s cyber. Today, when nearly all aspects of life have their roots in a machine, a server or a device, and are connected to some sort of power source—what’s worse than cutting off a country’s access to everything?

Facing the music

In 2015, four friends gathered to watch a football match one night in Arkansas, USA, and the homeowner James Bates woke up to find one of his friends (Victor Collins) who had slept over, face down and dead in his hot tub. The grim death attracted international attention, and Bates was arrested for first degree murder, partly on evidence collected from the audio recordings his Amazon Echo had picked up the night before. The case against Bates was eventually dismissed on grounds of reasonable doubt, but it led to a worldwide debate about the degree of access tech companies have to information as a result of the devices we put in our homes and lives.

Silicon Valley corps insist that they do not listen in on data unless explicitly commanded to do so, but reports say these claims are not true. Social media—that seemingly harmless network of barely-remembered school friends and distant relatives—was also hit in 2018, when hackers stole personal data from an alleged 29 million Facebook accounts, yet again plunging the world into fierce debates on the safety and security of the information you share online. Examples of cybercrime are countless, and malfunctioning devices cause trouble on an individual basis on the daily. Plus, it goes without saying that the proliferation of factories, hard-to-recycle and polluting devices and machines, and an exploitation of natural resources, all have had a massive impact on the planet we live on.

What then do we make of a world where humans are dependent on every form of technology, despite knowing its dangers—including, in this case, ironically using this forum to question this very dependence? From using sticks to make fire, humans have clearly come a long way in creating tools that help them accomplish their objectives. Today, a glitch in technology can lead to disasters of all kinds, from large-scale public systems crashing, security agencies losing power and private corporations losing information, to individuals losing access to their data, their way (all hail GPS maps), and even access to the app that reminds them to drink their hourly dose of H2O.

The good place

Of course, like every form of progress, the digital age has its negatives and positives. And while we’ve read pieces upon pieces on how it has been detrimental to humanity, to say technology is the problem would be simplifying and vilifying a science that has aided us to grow, educate, learn and connect with each other. Without aviation technology, the world would not be as physically connected as it is today. Without medical technology, a person with a serious ailment may not have a chance at survival. Without surveillance technology, many criminals would not have been captured. The ways in which tech has changed our lives for the positive are endless, and it’s no secret that the humans race would be far behind without it.

But all this begs the question: how would people survive if technology suddenly disappeared? And are we taking our dependance on technology so far that we’re negating the risks and threats of this ‘superpower’? It was a conversation in a weekly meeting, where a colleague suggested a story on a list of apps to download for ‘self-improvement’, that sparked a debate on our dependence on technology. Sure, we have normalised the idea of using an app to order food or check your blood sugar, and self-improvement is most definitely the order of the day for many of us, but do we really need some pre-recorded messages to teach us how to improve or remind us to be kinder to one another? Do you really need an app to remind you to drink a glass of water? And how can an app help put you to sleep, when hundreds of scientific studies suggest that the light from our phone and TV screens actually interferes with a good night’s rest?

To err is human

It’s safe to say technology is not evil—yet (conspiracy theorists discussing the rise of AI and their eventual domination think otherwise). But the problem lies in its unchecked consumption. Fact is that we are overly reliant on technology for every aspect of our lives. And history is testament to the fact that it is not the tool that is evil—it is the way it is wielded. If you ask us, the only way to begin tackling the problem of over-dependence on technology is to start the micro level.

Technology began as a need-based tool, a way to make life easier, to do things faster and more effectively. But when it goes from being a tool to supplement your own capabilities to one that you cannot function without, it becomes a problem. GPS is amazing, and all those who call themselves directionally-challenged will agree, but will you let it make you so reliant on it that you’re unable to read a map or follow directions from a fellow pedestrian? Why calculate in your mind when your phone can do it for you, right? But if we’re no longer able to organically function without the crutch of technology at an individual level, we’re not only devaluing human intelligence and capability, we’re also not letting our own skills shine to their full potential.

It is crucial that we focus on organic human effort and connection, and value what makes us humans. And if we stepped back from scrolling through our screens mindlessly for just a moment, we would see why it is the absolute need of the hour.

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“A digital detox gave me a better sense of who I really am”