Too Much Dependence Upon Technology

Does Technology Make Us More Alone?

Introduction

While the new development technology is often celebrated as the turning point for progressive societies, there is sometimes the failure to consider the negative social repercussions that new technologies can have on the lives of people. It is the argument of this paper that one of these negative repercussions is the fact that technology can make people feel very much alone. Obviously technological advances like the computer, the Internet, and the cellular phone have allowed people to interact with others in ways never before imaginable: people can talk to or message others anywhere in the world, share information, and connect in virtual ways. And, yet, when people—especially young people today—go out into the real world, they are almost invariably focused on the screens of their smart phones, engaging only minimally with others in their proximity, preferring isolation to real world interaction. But this phenomenon is not restricted to the antisocial attitudes of young people in the real world. Vega and Brennan note, for instance, that “technology isolates workers” in the business world (468). Likewise, Whaite et al. have found that social media technology leads to a sense of social isolation among users, which is a surprise to theorists who believed that social media use would lead to a greater sense of social connectivity. The evidence thus suggests that technology, in spite of its ability to connect people and make lives easier, also tends to divide people and prevent social interactivity in other ways, leading to a high degree of social isolation among much of the population. In the end, people are social creatures, but technology runs the risk of making humans more alone.

Children

Children are perhaps the most vulnerable population when it comes to technology. This is because that as they age they go through the greatest number of psychosocial development conflicts, according to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development (Munley). Technology can interfere with their ability to resolve or address those conflicts in a meaningful way. Rosen et al. found that “total media consumption predicted ill-being while for pre-teens specific technology uses, including video gaming and electronic communication, predicted ill-being” (364). Children who spend too much time interacting with technological devices, spend less time interacting with others, learning from others, and developing social skills from others. They become “digital natives,” who cannot interact in any meaningful way without the aid of technology, as Prensky put it (1). They may not be aware of their isolation, because it is all they grow up knowing, but by any objective measure they can be viewed as isolated from others because they have little to no interaction with others and are, moreover, incapable of interacting with others except by way of a digital device. They are groomed to view social interaction as something that takes place virtually via some form of social media platform or through some form of gaming console. They are alone in the world in terms of having a real world social support network.

As Nikken has shown, parents use technology as a babysitter “to sooth or calm their child, or to keep their child busy, for instance, because the parent cannot be physically present or has other chores to attend” (532). Instead of providing an immediate real world support for the child in the form of their own person, they use technology as a kind of magic wand; this magic wand transfixes the child and captures the child’s attention; the child becomes dependent upon it, and soon the child wants nothing other than to be entertained by the technological device. Years can pass and the child develops no interest in the real world, in interacting with others, or learning social skills. The child is entirely alone and isolated from the real world, and technology is the reason why.

Teenagers

This problem does not go away as the child matures into the teenage years. The teenage is faced with even more technology in life: transportation, work places, classrooms, home life, social life—all of it seems to center around technology. Instead of taking a bus to school, where one rides with several others, one buys a car and drives by oneself to school. He is alone. In the work place, technology has taken over many facets of labor: instead of counter service, kiosks are now appearing in fast food restaurants, and the only human beings working in the place are perhaps in the kitchen where the food is prepared, or in the manager’s office where administrative tasks are performed. For the most part, the worker is alone. If the person gets in a job in an Amazon warehouse, it is little different: robotics are in place everywhere, and the human worker is stationed at one place to perform one rote task, over and over and over. He is alone. In the classroom, technology is used at the entrance, where students might pass through a body scanner or metal detector, one at a time, to check for weapons. He is alone when he enters the school building because he has no choice but to be so. Then, inside, he is likely obliged to wear a face mask, because the “science” says it keeps the virus from spreading, and the TVs that are everywhere confirm as much. Thus, hidden behind his mask, he is essentially alone at school. And in the classroom, he sits at his desk behind a wall of plexiglass for the same “scientific” reason—to prevent his germs from getting out and others’ from getting in. Or, if he does not attend school, because of reasons of “science,” he sits at home and attends virtual classes through Zoom meetings. In any case, he is alone. And while home, he has a dozen technological options for entertainment when not attending a Zoom class: he can watch TV, play video games, get on social media, or fiddle with his personal computer. He is alone still. And as for his social life, it consists of sending emojis on his smart phone, or hitting the like button on a social media site. He is alone through it all.

The Counter-Argument

However, if one Googles “teenagers and technology loneliness,” one sees a number of returns suggesting that technology and social media are ways for teens to feel more connected to others. This counter-argument is not surprising, considering the source: Google is a public company that profits the more that people and teens use it and use its products. Thus, the first return on that Google query is an article from The Evening Standard, in which it states that according to a recent survey of teens, “over half (51 per cent) said that during times when they felt lonely, tech provided a solution to their loneliness such as enabled them to make new friends, receive support and advice, as well as read positive comments online” (Heathman). Yet, while some might see this as evidence that technology does not make people more alone, the fact is that it does: these teens are alone. They are connecting to others only virtually—not in the real world. In fact, as Rosen et al. and Prensky have all indicated, these teens do not know how to connect with others in the real world because they have never learned. They have grown up with technology as a kind of buffer and support system. It is their life support system in other words. They do not realize how alone they are, because they have technology to give them the illusion or impression of being connected. Moreover, the American Psychological Association has stated that by reducing time with technology, teens can actually feel less lonely.

Adults Have It No Better

Adults have it no different from teenagers. If they do not marry and have families of their own, their lives are characterized by endless interaction with technology rather than with other real-life human beings. Hours of each day are spent on some form of screen, whether at work or at home. They have a screen-life rather than a social life. Even if they do end up with a partner or with children, it is not bound to be much different. The screens are everywhere, and technology becomes a barrier between people.

Modern society has become so dependent upon technology that it does not know how to exist without it. If the Internet went down, adults as much as teens or children would be hard pressed to know what to do with themselves. They would have to figure out how to live the way people did before the 21st century and the arrival of the Digital Age. After all, the digital natives that Prensky described two decades ago are now adults themselves. The only thing that has changed over that course of time is how much more pervasive technology has become in society.

Conclusion

Technology has changed the way people interact, work, learn, recreate, and live their lives on a daily basis. Homes, transportation, places of learning, work places, entertainment venues—all of it is dominated by technology. One cannot even go to a ball game today without having a sense of the way technology controls everything. From the tall screens to the blaring music from the sound system to the kiosks and conveyor belts to the traffic of people in their individual cars outside, one sees nothing but the inescapable, crushing weight of technology on all aspects of modern life. Sitting next to strangers in the stands, people could interact with them or even just enjoy the game—but many choose instead to look at their phones, or view the screen, or get caught up some other technological distraction that separates and divides people from their own humanity. People grow up from the age of childhood feeling dependent upon technology. It governs, soothes, and protects them. Some say it makes them feel less lonely. Yet, they are lonely because of the dependence upon technology: all it does is distract them from their loneliness. In the end, they are more alone because of it than they would be without it. Without it, they might realize that they are in a world of other human beings like themselves. And they might for once realize what it means to meet another human being in the real world.