Human bonds come asunder in modern world defined by technological connections
Print Edition
In a video clip making the rounds online, a young woman is shown walking down the road with her eyes glued to her smartphone.
Distracted by her device, she veers off the road and falls into a pond. After about two minutes of frantic struggle in the water, she is seen no more.
Many of us have become lost in the world of mobile gadgets, to the point of becoming totally blind to the dangers around ourselves.
Of course, signs of digital addiction can also be seen in the mundane situations that happen all around us every day. For instance, while I was composing this article, I looked up and saw three young women engaged in a chat.
The interesting thing though is that while they were standing together, they did not look at each other.
Instead, their eyes were fixed on their hand-held gadgets. The conversation was moved along with the occasional monosyllabic utterance. One can tell things became much more lively when each lady鈥檚 device was proffered for collective viewing and comment.
The apparent lesson here is that, in the age of Internet, though it鈥檚 good to come together physically, it鈥檚 also important to stay tethered to our devices.
One can find similar scenes at tourist attractions, on the train, in restaurants, or in friendly gatherings.
Is this the brave new world that futurists were predicting decades ago?
Is this the digital 鈥渓iberation鈥 that we were once promised?
In his book 鈥淭he Precariat: The New Dangerous Class,鈥 which I reviewed recently (January 22), author Guy Standing argues that young workers endlessly plugged into the web and social media suffer from a 鈥渃ollective attention deficit disorder syndrome.鈥
This syndrome encourages short-term interactions while diluting long-term commitments.
As a result, many young people are doubly disempowered 鈥 they lose control over their schedules and priorities while simultaneously becoming non-stop passive viewers who fear disconnection.
In the end, around-the-clock connection prevents them from realizing the disorienting fragmentation of their lives and work. Being hooked up with hundreds 鈥 or even thousands 鈥 of 鈥渇riends鈥 on WeChat and other similar apps, many have been deprived of opportunities to form enduring relationships or find more meaningful satisfaction in their lives. You still find signs of rebellion among youngsters.
鈥楢lone Together鈥
At a matter of fact, during the past week I have heard at least three teenagers characterize themselves as wuliao (bored), in spite of the Wi-Fi access.
One sixteen-year-old even described himself as being so bored that not even video games could cheer him up.
Another thirteen-year-old walking with me in freezing cold outdoors refused to go home, since being at home was so boring.
In 鈥淎lone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other鈥 (2011), MIT technology and society specialist Sherry Turkle explores the impact of gadgetry on modern life.
Specifically, she chronicles how expectations about technology have deepened our isolation.
She observes that today many of us feel more comfortable with our gadgets than with each other.
鈥淲e bend to the inanimate with new solicitude. We fear the risks and disappointments of relationships with our fellow humans. We expect more from technology and less from each other,鈥 she writes. Thus, technologies that many once looked to with hope and optimism for their potential to facilitate new and deeper connections have, in fact, done the opposite.
鈥淲e are lonely but fearful of intimacy ... Networked life allows us to hide from each other, even as we are tethered to each other. We鈥檇 rather text than talk.鈥 Turkle proclaims.
Wherever we look, we see eyes directed toward the small screens.
Those glued to their devices are tapped into events and 鈥渇riends鈥 around the world, but how much time do they have for those nearest to them? As our government pledge to make our cities more wired, it is high time to wake up to the corrosive influence of devices.
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