Technology affecting social behaviour

Can we keep up?

With every generation the old generation is always afraid that the new ones will not be able to rise to their invisible “standard” of life and values. In today’s world we see that technology is affecting the new generation and this “standard” in an explosive pace more and more. Our physical and social world is changing in such a way that you can question if we will ever be able to keep up or will we just be riding the roller coaster and see what happens. Wondering if i am getting old or not is a thought that crossed my mind when thinking of this. To understand my compass in this world we need a quick tour the past.

So lets begin with the history of, well, me!

I am a 70's child, 34 years on the clock and had a childhood without mobile phones, internet, social media and most of it even without the personal computer. So what did you do then all day, is what the new generation will ask by now? I played outside, hide and seek, climb trees, build tree houses etc. When i was 14 i got my first ever pc, a 286 with a whopping 12mhz. Me and my friends would always be at the house of the one who had the latest pc. Then came the first mobile phone, and before you knew it there was a new world introduced to all called Internet. And wow it came fast to my house. My 14K4 modem was burning hot to open the world before my eyes. I still remember when i started my pc, hooked up to the Internet, for the first time. Imagine the entire world at your feet, before that time my world was not much bigger then a 16.000 persons little town and the once a year amazing trips to France. I sat there watching a blank screen for minute after minute simply not knowing what to look for. What did i wanted to know or see, i could not think of it. So what did i finally looked at? Most beautiful places in the world, space and beyond? No, i dont know exactly what i looked at first but i do know it was far from spectacular, new or out of my comfort zone. But hey, all first steps are small.

Since the end of the 90s the speed of technological advances gained momented and has not stopped till today. Today, technology is everywhere, its momentum is lighting fast, but the hunger for more is at Warp Speed. Social media has opened up personal thoughts to the world, the ordinary person can feel like a super star. Computers, but even more, the mobile phone has changed the way people grow up and interact with each other in such a pace that the bridge between generations is getting wider and wider.

The new generation sees danger everywhere in this. This is of course normal since the implementation of new technology always comes before the implementation within our social world. Questions like “Can social behavior really not be permanently damaged by the sheer speed of technological development” will remain to be asked and investigated. Social interaction moving more and more from direct contact to Social media contact, will this not kill the basic skill of social interaction? Although my heart feels it does, my scientific mind calms this thought by reason.

Every generation has overcome changes we experience. We are DNA coded to explore our world and its changes and implement it in such a way it gains our way of life. It is an exciting time, technology has come so far that all doors are open for trial and error. How far we will succeed and at what cost is never certain. But one mayor positive impact the Internet has given us and will never disappear again is that every voice can be heard in the world. The potential of the “I have a dream” impact lies more and more on every doorstep. And this gives me hope we can eventually create a world in balance.

Although i am a gadget junky, i still am that 70's kid, raised by a Woodstock Hippy sliding the muddy hills. And with that comes the primal urge for peace, love and happiness.I believe we have the power to remove hunger, poverty and capitalism in this world and that our technological and human gain can coexist with a healthy, clean and extinction free nature. But even on this last remark my scientific minds calms me down by saying: “On the soundtrack of the world we are only stardust”.