At any rate, I think about technology a lot. And I use it a lot. And I'm concerned about what I'm seeing.
A news report this morning addressed precautions people should take to protect their smartphones and the data stored on them. Several of the people expressed their angst at losing it or having it stolen. One person said that "If I lost my phone, my life would be over." And he was stone-faced serious.
While smartphone technology is amazing and useful, think of the extra layer of stress it and other mobile devices have added to our lives. I stress enough over my old, cheap cell phone. I also stress over losing my cracked flashdrive, my old laptop and the list goes on. As we've become more wired (or wireless) and integrated, our genetic "fight or flight" reactions have found new outlets.
I agree with Edward O. Wilson and a number of others in that though we have become very technologically advanced as a species, our brains are still wired pretty much the same as they were when we were hunter-gathers. Instead of "Oh, crap! A lion!," now it's "Oh, crap, I can't find my phone!" Or someone has hacked by Facebook account, my bank account--the list goes on. The bad thing for our bodies is that the stress response, which increases your heart rate, muscle tension and releases cortisol into your bloodstream, is good for running away from a lion, but not so good for your when you are frantically looking in the couch cushions at Starbucks for you new smartphone when you've got a webinar to conduct in 5 minutes.
I agree with Edward O. Wilson and a number of others in that though we have become very technologically advanced as a species, our brains are still wired pretty much the same as they were when we were hunter-gathers. Instead of "Oh, crap! A lion!," now it's "Oh, crap, I can't find my phone!" Or someone has hacked by Facebook account, my bank account--the list goes on. The bad thing for our bodies is that the stress response, which increases your heart rate, muscle tension and releases cortisol into your bloodstream, is good for running away from a lion, but not so good for your when you are frantically looking in the couch cushions at Starbucks for you new smartphone when you've got a webinar to conduct in 5 minutes.
I'm not a Luddite by any means. Humans are a technological species, and technology in and of itself is morally exempt (at least for now). As a matter of fact, it's my hypothesis that it can be viewed as a force of nature in its own right. But I think we need to live as "intentional species." We are not morally exempt. We need to make conscious choices as to how we utilize technology and not forget our connections to the carbon-based world. I'm finding myself increasingly a student of Kevin Kelly. I think we can all learn a lot from this quote--I know I have.
Kevin makes some great insights into the role of technology in our lives, its role in nature and how it can hopefully lead to a better future for all life in this great talk on TED. It's worth a watch. Isn't technology great?
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