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Relationships
Downloading Buddha
How high-speed modems and technology impact our relationships.
Posted September 30, 2021 Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
Key points
- Negative effects of technology in our lives include a need for instant gratification.
- The real threat presented by technology is that we have come to use it as if it’s the only means and the best way of staying connected.
- Technology was meant to be an enhancement for our relationships, not a replacement.
- The crush of technology drives us to make instant decisions and follow our short-term animal instincts.
When a few keystrokes on a computer could get a naked man to your front door faster than an overnight package shipped by UPS—that’s the moment we crossed over into dangerous territory. Technology is a wonderful thing, but blind worship of it is not advisable.
All things are possible with God and a high-speed modem.
This statement sums up the philosophy and sentiments of the empowerment age in its entirety. The 14 years between 1978 and 1992 ushered in a silent killer where relationships are concerned. It is known as the Age of Empowerment. This period crept in with the stealth of a panther and the lethal punch of a dose of carbon monoxide. The Age of Empowerment was born when the self- liberation movement of the 1970’s meandered into the deep stream of the computer age, which peaked when the internet officially caught fire in the early to middle 90's.
Human beings are vulnerable to technology because in our hurried, complex, world, we’re desperate for anything to make it easier or better. In the book, Wait; The Useful Art of Procrastination, Frank Partnoy reminds us that the crush of technology drives us to make instant decisions and follow our short-term animal instincts.
I want it fast, and I want it now!
Again, what a strange paradox we now find ourselves boxed into: As technology advances, with the full intention of producing a more efficient, effective, and calm society, the opposite, or some version of the opposite, is happening. No matter how sharp the cutting edge of a designed technology, it will never be a match for the intricate web of human relationships spun by emotions. Technology is advancing, and that fast track has now become an ultra-speed, 22-lane highway. And with all that speed, there is a naturally-occurring expectation that the things we want should and will come faster and easier. In just about every nook, cranny, and watering hole of life, there is someone, somewhere, looking for a shortcut.
The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project summed up their findings on the chronically plugged in and technologically-connected state of the world with a simple warning; Negative effects include a need for instant gratification and a loss of patience. We can get so much of everything easily these days that convenience is no longer considered a pleasantry of life; it’s an expectation—a necessity.
Crime has gone high-tech, too, and speed matters. According to the Fifth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, the most concerning crimes of our time are cybercrime, identity-related crime piracy, and organ trafficking. Besides being dangerous, what these crimes have in common is being among the fastest for criminals to make easy money. Gone are the days of Bugsy Siegel and Al Capone when murder and mayhem were planned over a five-course meal with red wine and slow melodic music playing in the background.
Are you sleepless and just don’t want to wait and find that special someone to cuddle with? No problem: Jump online, and you can purchase a snuggle partner. Professional snugglers are popping up everywhere. With just the point and click of your mouse, you can find yourself snug as a bug in a rug within 30 minutes.
If the thought of throwing away your time standing in line is a turn-off, you can simply reach out to the aptly named standing in-line service. From cupcakes to concert tickets, they’ll do the waiting for you.
In the mood for a random date? Go ahead and pull out your Smartphone, swipe, and connect to a stranger near you, in minutes.
The real threat presented by technology is we have come to use it more and more as if it’s the only means and the best way of staying connected. As a tool, the greatest danger technology poses to human beings is that it allows us to move farther and farther away from human-to-human contact with increased speed and ease.
The gift of physicality that comes with being human has diminished as mobile devices and cyber apps replace simple human physical connections
Something special happens when humans connect to each other face to face, eye to eye, and skin to skin. The true connection happens on the soul and cellular level. There is still power in being in another’s presence.
Technology was meant to be an enhancement in our relationships, not a replacement.
Adapted from They're Not Coming by Sheila Robinson-Kiss, Msw, Lcsw
