DemiReeves

Humanities
March19,2015

DoesTechnologyMakeUsMoreAlone?
Canyourememberthelasttimeyouwereinalargecrowdanddidntobservethathalf
thepeoplesurroundingyouweremesmerizedbyadigitalscreen,escapingtosomewhereelse?
Youmaynothavenoticedbecauseofyourowncaptivationwithtechnology.Although
technologyandsocialnetworksprovideuswithnewkindsofconnections,theyarebeginningto
depriveusoffacetofacehumaninteraction.
AnewvideocalledIForgotMyPhonewasrecentlyreleasedstarringCharlene
deGuzman,acomedienneandactress.Theshortfilmisbasedonoursocietysobsessiveuseof
cellphones,pesteringusaboutourcravingfortechnologyandsuggestingthatitmaybe
destroyinghumaninteraction.Inaninterview,Ms.deGuzmanstated:Icameupwiththeidea
forthevideowhenIstartedtorealizehowridiculousweareallbeing,myselfincluded,whenI
wasataconcertandpeoplearoundmewererecordingtheshowwiththeirphones,notactually
watchingtheconcert.ShelatersaidItmakesmesadthattherearemomentsinourliveswhere
werenotpresentbecausewerelookingataphone.BasedonMs.deGuzmansshortfilm,
observations,andourownpersonalexperiences,wecanconcludethatasasocietyweareletting
ourtechnologytakeoverourlives.
Astechnologybeginstoreshapehowweconnectanddevelop,wehavetobeginto
rethinkwhatweneedtohavemeaningfulrelationships.Noamountofsocialnetworkingcan
providethesamephysicalandemotionalbenefitsthatweseeinfacetofacerelationships.A
recentstudybyBarbaraL.Fredricksonlooksattheeffectsoflearningskillsforcultivating
warmerinterpersonalconnectionsindailylife,withouttheuseofcellulardevices.Inthe
experiment,halfoftherandomlyselectedparticipantsattendedatechnologyfreeworkshopona
mindtrainingpracticeknownaslovingkindnessorMetta,thatteachesparticipantstodevelop
morewarmthandtendernesstowardsothersaswellasthemselves.Theresultsstatethatthe
meditatorsnotonlyfeltmoreupbeatandsociallyconnectedbuttheyalsoalteredakeypartof
theircardiovascularsystemcalledvagaltone.(BarbaraL.Fredrickson,2013)Thevagaltoneis
thedegreeofactivityoccurringwithinthenervoussystem,resultinginchangestotheheartrate
andotherkeyfunctions.Thehigherapersonsvagaltone,thebetteritisfortheirhealthandface


DemiReeves
Humanities
March19,2015

tofaceinterpersonalconnections.Thereforewecanconcludethatourfacetofaceconnections
aredirectlyaffectingourhealth.
Mostofususesocialnetworkingandourtechnologytokeepupwithourreallifefriends,
butoftenwewillfriendorfollowpeoplewedontknoworhaventkeptupwithforyears.
Thesefriendsorfanscreatetheillusionofcompanionshipwithoutthedemandsof
friendship,withoutthedemandsofintimacy.saysSherryTurkle,AbbyRockefellerMauz
ProfessoroftheSocialStudiesofScienceandTechnologyatMIT.Inreallifewecanteditwho
weareandourfriendsseeourwholestory,notjustthehighlightsreel,whereasouronline
friendsorfollowersonlyseethepositivepartsofourlivesas,ProfessorTurklesuggests,
Texting,email,postingallofthesethingsletuspresenttheselfwewanttobe.Wegettoedit,
andthatmeanswegettodelete.TheuseofavatarsonasiteprovidesInternetusersthefreedom
andopportunitytomanipulatetheiridentitytocreatesomeonebetterthanthemselvesand
deceiveotherusers..Studieshaveshownthat,ingeneral,peoplecreateslightlyidealized
avatarsbasedontheiractualselves,saysNickYee,researchscientist.Thereforeouronline
relationshipslackthetruthfulness,rawnessanddepththatourreallifefacetofacerelationships
possess.
Onemayarguethatsocialnetworkingandtechnologyhavemadeusmoreconnected
thanever.Wecanspeaktoandkeeptabsonpeopleacrosstheworld,getconstantupdatesfrom
familymembersnomattertheirlocation,andwecanbeuptodateonworldevents,allthrough
onelittlescreen.Wehaveaplethoraofinformation,contacts,facts,picturesofpeopleslives,
andmorerestingatourfingertips.Howeverthisdatabasecomeswithhealthrisks.Cellphones
emitradiofrequencyenergy,aformofnonionizingelectromagneticradiation,whichcanbe
absorbedbytissuesclosesttowherethephoneisheld,saystheNationalCancerInstitute.
Theseradiofrequencieshavebeenlinkedtomanyhealthissues,includingtissuecancers,
geneticdamage,reproductivedefects,neurologicaldegenerationandnervoussystem
dysfunction,immunesystemdysfunction,cognitiveeffects,proteinandpeptidedamage,kidney
damage,anddevelopmentaleffects.Thosewhothinkthathavingthismassamountof
informationinourgraspcanreplacehumancontactarethepeopleyouwilllookuptoseeglued
totheirphones.Technologyandsocialnetworksmayprovideuswithloadsofinformationand
contacts,buttheyarealsotakingawayourfacetofacehumaninteraction.


DemiReeves
Humanities
March19,2015

Thoughweveallseenthecrowdsofpeoplehypnotizedbytheirglowingscreens,
researchershavefoundthatwerehealthierbecauseofinpersonconnections,andweknowour
onlinerelationshipsaremissingtherawness,truthfulnessanddepthinpersonfriendships
possess.Thoughtechnologyandsocialnetworkshavegivenusanewwaytoconnect,an
overwhelmingamountofevidencehasshownthatinpersoncommunicationismorebeneficial.
Soputdownyourphone.