More Connection, More Distance: Today’s Technology, Essay Example

When the advances in technology today are closely considered, it seems that a vast irony is in play.  Nearly everybody uses communication technology, and in more than one form.  People have their laptops at work, then switch off to their hand-held smartphones as soon as they get up from their desks, or use both at the same time.  The situation is the same at home, as the tablet frees the individual to remain connected to the Internet in every room.  This is truly an astounding evolution, and one affecting the entire world.  In a matter of a few decades, communication has become as ordinary and constant as breathing.  In today’s world, actually seeing someone in public not using their phone or focused on their tablet or laptop is extremely unusual.  The activity is also not limited to city scenes, and the single hiker or individual enjoying nature usually keeps just as connected as the businessperson downtown.

It would seem, then, that a cultural evolution must be in place, and one on an international scale.  Abilities to communicate, from the first languages to the printing press, always change societies and cultures in important ways; the modern explosion of communication technology must then mean that we are moving to new worlds of understanding.  Since we can speak to one another at any time and from any place, it only follows that we are coming together more closely.  If this is happening, however, it is happening in a way destroying something just as important.  The reality is that, as distance no longer is an obstacle in communicating, distance is everything, and people are no longer connected to where they actually are.  This then goes to the losses in communication in the old-fashioned, physical arena.  Simply, as everyone is busy in a conversation stretched across miles, they are unaware of who is right next to them.  The global culture truly has changed, but it has not become more intimate and connected.  On the contrary, real place and real people have been sacrificed for the sake of convenience.

This truth is so universal, it is usually not even seen unless attention is paid.  We are so used to witnessing this new activity all around us, it is the “new normal.”  On any street, and on any day, what is viewed is a scene of multiple, isolated people not mentally or emotionally present.

It may be that we humans are so arrogant as to think we can occupy a space fully and still give our attention to a matter or person 100 miles away, but this is, unfortunately, beyond the capabilities of most.  Our minds and feeling become connected to the voice on the other end, or to the images, video and sound capturing our attention.  When this occurs, it is virtually impossible that any real sense of current place be had.

On a strictly practical level, this presents serious problems.  The dangers of cells and texting while driving are well know, and legislature is increasingly in place to ban such activities.  Accidents, however, can happen outside of vehicles, just as the person fixated on their cell is highly vulnerable to any kind of aggression or harassment.  This factor is probably most evident in large cities, where herds of people on sidewalks move along practically oblivious to their surroundings.  There are bumps, collisions, and sometimes even muttered apologies heard.

It is not entirely a joke that certain European nations are experimenting with cushioned street lamps, to protect those cell users frequently running into them.  Similarly, it raises the question of what other measures will be tried or suggested, to “protect people from themselves.”  This then emphasizes an even more disturbing reality, in that the activity itself goes unquestioned.  It seems that, today, people in various societies are willing to entertain losses of what used to be considered personal rights.  They will allow an airport security device to scan every inch of them, holding up their arms and spreading their legs like police suspects.  What they will not entertain is giving up their right to technology.

The real question at the heart of this matter is: what is connection? Is it more important to be able to conduct a conversation at will, and from any location, than to be mentally and emotionally present where the physical self is?  It may be easily argued that the answer must be no.  On one level, it is critical to remember that humanity has been very much swept up by this technology.  There has been no time to note gradual changes in cultural and personal interactions because the process has been both overwhelmingly large and too fast, and noting true repercussions requires some time.  We all behave in ways both influenced by, and influencing, our culture, and it is only logical that so radical a shift in behavior must have consequence we do not yet see.  On another, there is the very real danger of communication itself losing meaning, and through these very capabilities.  When a thing is available all the time, it is easily abused.  In past eras, when being able to see and/or speak to someone far away was a complicated matter, the efforts were not made unless there was good reason.  The call to the business was made because a letter took too long, and urgency triggered it.  The call to the friend or family member far away had great meaning because there were few opportunities to connect.  Today, substance is essentially of little importance.  People seem to call merely because they can, and the actual content weakens.  Added to this is the factor that, when communication is so constant and so distanced, there must be a lessened understanding of the relationships themselves.  When the contact is usually removed, the individual is more enabled to perceive themselves in ways that may not reflect how the other perceives them.

There is another, and very disturbing, part to this scenario.  It is also as ordinary as witnessing dozens of people walking down the street and focusing on their devices.  It is the distance people are creating between themselves and those actually around them.  It could be argued, of course, that this is often desirable.  On a subway or train, for example, it is likely more pleasant to be able to ignore the strangers all around.  Aside from the noted vulnerability to harassment this creates, however, there is the loss of opportunity.  It may not be that a casual conversation with a stranger will be meaningful, but the possibility certainly exists.  People have become acquainted in exactly this way for long centuries, and often with very positive results.  Whether or not the results are good, the reality is that cells render it impossible.  Completely absorbed in our devices, we lose the opportunity to make the human contact that is unexpected, surprising, sometimes disappointing, and sometimes very worthwhile.

Even more disturbing is how people are now treating friends and family because of what technology allows.  This can be plainly seen in any restaurant, and in any society in an industrialized nation.  Men, women, and children share tables because they are known to one another intimately.  Then, and usually not long after the chairs are taken, the devices come out and calls or texts are made, or emails are exchanged.  This renders the family member or friend at the table as disposable as the stranger on the train, and this is a fascinating means of viewing how communication technology is changing culture.  If, for example, a person was asked years ago if they would deliberately ignore a friend seated with them in a restaurant, and pay absolutely no attention to that person’s being, it is likely that the response would be a shocked denial.  This, however, is what untold millions do every day, and to people to whom they are close.  The same disregard, of course, is practiced between business associates in such social settings, but the true impact of what can only be called grossly insulting behavior is emphasized as it occurs between loved ones.  Somehow, cell technology has enabled people to believe they may fully dismiss whoever is near to them.

It cannot be denied that modern communication technology is beneficial in a number of important ways.  It generates international awareness and cooperation.  It expedites business.  It allows people far away to maintain close ties, and it also provides a measure of security for anyone in an emergency situation.  At the same time, however, this same technology is creating vast changes in human behavior and relations.  As people turn more to interacting over distances, they increasingly ignore whatever – and whoever – is around them.  This is change that must be studied, because it goes to global behavior, and is in stark contrast with the traditions of human relations.  Ironically, the more distance is no longer a barrier in communication, the more distance we are placing between each other as human beings.