Technology craze destroying social interactions

Alanna Goldstein, The Silhouette (McMaster University)

HAMILTON, O.N. (CUP) — If you have watched any television in the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed a commercial for the latest piece of cell phone technology on the market. As if having multiple personalized ring tones and constant access to the Internet weren’t enough, now cell phones are channelling television through their tiny screens.

It was only a matter of time, really; after all, why wouldn’t we want to create new and useless technologies if we have the means to?

Cell phone users are already overly- attached to their phones, much as a fetus is attached to its mother; it is their link to survival.

I used to be one of these cell phone junkies: pulling it out every few minutes to check the time, to check for messages, anxiously jumping every time I heard a ring or felt a vibration, wondering if, this time, the call was for me. So silly really, but it reflects our desire to be constantly connected, and our fear of being out of touch.

But are we taking it too far? This new phone/television hybrid seems a tad unnecessary.

The commercial for this stupid product says it all. The ad features digitized cartoon characters wandering around, watching the hockey game on their cell phones, and shows them running into things, walking into elevator shafts and just generally ignoring one another as they go about their daily business.

Lovely image for the future isn’t it? The commercial is pretty funny, which is perhaps a commentary on our society that we can make fun of the way that our obsession with technology and progress is essentially destroying our relationship with reality.

Maybe this sounds a bit extreme, but what good can possibly come of individuals watching television on their cell phones? Is it really necessary to make television portable?

I’m sure that there are lots of television freaks out there who love the idea that they can channel their favourite episode of the O.C. at any given moment.

After all, what is the point of living if we don’t know how Ryan and Marisa break up this week? But in a society that is already so fragmented, where people fly through their daily routines, barely breaking their stride to avoid other pedestrians and rarely making eye contact as they attempt to exist within their own little bubbles, why do we need yet another piece of technology that only encourages this individual alienation?

Are we so afraid to actively participate in our environment that we would rather escape to the make-believe world of television, even when out in public?

The Walkman phenomenon was the first indication of where individual technology would take us. With its arrival, we were suddenly able to physically exist within a certain space while mentally drifting away to a world in which we were the only inhabitants. No need to actively engage ourselves in our world by listening to the sounds around us, so long as we were capable of physically navigating our space.

But now with the advent of this new piece of technology, individuals are not going to be able to accomplish even this much.

As the commercial suggests, we are all going to be ignoring each other’s physical presence, cell phone in hand, earphones blocking out any outside distractions, existing entirely within a world of our own choosing. How nice.

We will never have to talk to or look at anyone else. We can be complete individuals, avoiding any of those annoying social interactions that help to create a cohesive society.

After all, why have a relationship with another human being when you could have one with a piece of technology? Other humans are demanding and frustrating. They make us question our ideas and ourselves; they force us to be empathetic and understanding.

Relationships with humans are hard work and there is no guarantee that they will end in mutual satisfaction.

Material goods, however, give without demanding anything in return. They supply easy answers, bring fleeting moments of happiness, and give us a sense of identity that would be much more difficult to attain if we attempted to build it through our interactions with one another and the world.

Yes, we are lucky to live in an era of such technological success that we can become virtual robots, mediating all of our experiences to our own satisfaction so as to never suffer a moment of unhappiness in the imperfection of the real world.

If we are so desirous of constant pacification, we ought to forget about leaving our homes altogether, strap ourselves into our computers, and let technology fill in for our senses.

Remember the Matrix my friends; here is where it begins.