I recall the late 1950s to early 1960s in Sri Lanka. We walked to school with a number of other children and had plenty of conversation as we went along. Of course, one can get those years back in a few hours by traveling to a remote village in a developing country and see that much of life has unchanged.
However, the strong bond of social connections is admirable. We had few cars then, so ordinary folks walked many miles to a point and then boarded the bus or train to school or the workplace. On the bus or train, they would talk to the passenger next door and make friends.
In the industrialized world, you have to push back the years a few decades to get the equivalent social experience of a developing country setting. This may partly account for the fact why many people from the industrialized world go to developing countries on vacation. Prior to the automobile, typical modes of travel were the horse drawn carriage or walking, yet kept travelers in close proximity to the human world. Then the auto follows – a mode of transport that rapidly passed through public places at higher speeds and people lost contact with their neighbors; thus was the beginning of impersonality into human lives.
In the early 1970s when I returned to Sri Lanka from a brief visit to Indonesia and having purchased a very small two-in-one (Radio and Cassette Player) almost the entire neighborhood visited me to see this new gadget. Next came the TV to Sri Lanka in the 60s to early 70s and TV dinners became a social occasion. Coming to America in 1981, the US was full-blown with TV’s and what not but it was only around 1981 that the fax machine appeared in the US. Since then however, the World Wide Web, the cell phone (Blackberry included), I-Pods, video games, digital cameras and others have flooded the landscape in the US and other parts of the world.
In fact, the fax machine brought on some form of social communalism. Staff would line up at UNICEF New York near the fax machine to take their turns sending a fax or waiting for one. While the machine worked, staff chatted. Now with the advent of more technology social corrosion has set in. Some gadgets are a social necessity like radios. However, as we moved to the TV, World Wide Web, Blackberry’s and I-Pods we also saw some disintegration of social intelligence.
In a typical household in North America, there can be not one but several computers in the house. Each child (even as young as seven and above) may boast a separate room and computer. Therefore, the kid gets home and isolates to a room watching TV, playing computer games or scouring the web or playing other video games. Most kids also have cell phones and they call their friends and chat for hours after school. The result is that kids isolate themselves and do not socialize with other children like in the yonder years. This behavior may have unintended consequences for society like training people to be individualistic and isolated. Technology is good for society but at the same time, it has created other interpersonal problems. Parents ought to be aware of these issues and afford guidance to children so that they do not overdo gadget activities. However, are some parents qualified to offer this guidance?
Now the Wall Street Journal reports (Blackberry Orphans, December 8, 2006) that the Blackberry is spawning a generation of resentful children. Parents are e-mailing or reading e-mail off the Blackberry during most of the day and neglecting the attention that children deserve. Parents cannot get off the compulsive addiction of the Blackberry. Parents accompany their kids to a ball game or school concert (where the kid is participating) and instead of watching the kid in action, they stay glued to their Blackberry device. It is not only e-mail runs amok but also this is Blackberry run amok. The situation is so bad that some children hide these gadgets from the parents. Moreover, it has also reached the attention of seeking therapy for the addiction. Parents have to grow up and set minimal standards for Blackberry-free time zones and not use it during mealtime and driving. Yet better, if the Blackberry is office property, leave it at the office if you can, but if you risk getting fired for that, then carry it with you.
New technologies have however brought more benefits to society than every before, but it has eroded the communalism of the social structure of society. So much for the 21st century mobile society, there are always negative externalities with every new invention, and society has to learn new ways of warding off that negative externality. One of those negative externalities is that there is no division between work and home. In as much the office has come into the home the home has also come into the office. With the ease of the World Wide Web, office staff spends hours shopping online, e-mailing or simply roaming the web. In addition, now you have eBay and You-Tube, making distraction even more desperate both at work and at home.
AAA (The American Automobile Association) reports that of the ten deadliest mistakes teen drivers make is indulging in wireless exchanges while driving. The wireless revolution has brought even more potentially distracting cellular capabilities: text messaging, transmitting photos and downloading videos and music while driving. Such multitasking is a hazard to the driver, its occupants and other drivers and pedestrians on the street. Advise your teenage children not to take such risks when driving. The I-pod even forces drivers to look away from the road while selecting their music causing distractions and accidents. Lawmakers in Oregon and Washington are pushing for a bill that will ban texting (sending SMS messages) while driving and make it illegal. It is an expansion of laws against talking on the cellphone while driving. However, texting is more dangerous than talking on cellphone while driving as you compel to takes your eyes off the road.
These days when you walk on the street or waiting in line at a deli there is no one to talk with. People are virtually deaf. Folks plug in to their e-mail on the blackberry or cell phone while also listening to music with their ears plugged with headphones. They are dazed and lost in some tune or other electronic conversation to the point where they are oblivious to what is going around them, and more to the point, tuned out of everyone who passes them on the street. These days even youngsters go to the beach with headphones plugged and avoid raw contact with the other people on the beach. Technology has truly eroded and disintegrated social life.
Please also see Social consequence of gadgets part 2.
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