Are we using too much phone?

Gertz talks of passive Nihilism - Our lives, we are told, are no longer real: they have become media-facilitated concoctions. We no longer have real friends or honest conversations. We are forced to make do with media facsimiles. We no longer know who we are. Our very goals and values have been determined for us by hidden algorithms, without our knowledge or consent. The fact that most of us feel that technology has made our lives better merely demonstrates how effective and dangerous is the illusion that technology generates. We are becoming, or have already become, computer-driven zombies that are no longer truly human.

There is a horrifying rise of a technological mass culture which is now apparently enslaving us. 

Are we  victims  of  “techno-hypnosis.”??

 

This is a problem and has nothing to do with agile - “technology and your phone” can be a drug - and we need to be careful to ensure that we continue to remind ourselves  what it means to be human.”

According to Gertz, “we” spend it on meaningless “orgies of clicking” - finding ‘new ways to indulge our ecstatic urges”, such as when technologies allow us to “post anonymous comments, form flash mobs, and become cybervigilantes.” Leading us from  a self-destruction of guilt to a destruction of shame.”

This is scary 

Technology has massive positives it enables us to 

 

• save us time and money
• instantly find knowledge, get books
• buy an infinite array of goods at low prices
• watch most of the world’s movies or listen to all of the world’s music on our phones
• text and video conferencing enabling us to have a much richer and emotionally fulfilling relationship with our loved ones scattered around the planet 
• get more done working from home
• get to and stay at amazing places using Airbnb and Uber 

 

We need to have  a balanced approach to technology and balance  both the benefits and risks of technology in our lives. 

Do as I write not do as I do!!

Do not discount the dangers of technology! 

See also https://australianinnovation.blogspot.com/2020/07/are-we-becoming-bots.html