How Close Are We To Technology? — Part 2: Emotional

In my last article I discussed how I see us being physically connected to technology, how this has changed over time, and how the trends of the past can perhaps help us predict how this will change in the future. If you didn’t get a chance to read part one, you can find it here.

In Part 2, I would like to share my thoughts on our connection to technology on an emotional level. I will consider how we use technology for advice, as well as how the emotional relationship we have developed with technology has put an interesting spin on trust.

“How are we emotionally attached to technology?”

Family Matters

People have different family experiences; for some family is everything, for others the less contact they have the better. I come from a close-knit family, for which I consider myself lucky. The beauty of a close family is the passing down of knowledge, let’s take the example of the good old family recipe. Whether a top notch curry, sublime Sunday roast, or a Victorian sponge that hasn’t changed since, well, the Victorian times, every family has a handwritten recipe or two that has been passed through generations.

But is this something we will continue to see? A quick Google search may provide a better recipe, one that more people have ‘liked’. Will I want to dig out the old family recipe when I can find one from Jamie Oliver in a couple of clicks? He’s a proper chef, so I should listen to him, right?

Of course we all develop traits and habits from our parents, we grow and develop in an environment shaped by them. I recently moved in with my girlfriend, and was horrified to learn that she keeps tomato ketchup in the cupboard, while I have always kept it in the fridge; we picked up these ways of doing things from our family homes. Google helped us make the right decision about where you should keep ketchup.

Although these are very trivial examples, for me they highlight how useful technology can be when we turn to it.

Considering our emotional connection to technology at a deeper level raises interesting questions:

• Do we consider turning to technology a better option than turning to family?
• Do we have emotional feelings for technology?
• Do we love technology?

By turning to technology we are able to get thoughts, advice, and guidance from further afield, enabling society to grow and develop, we can learn from others and share our knowledge wider than ever before. Recently I have had to go on a special diet, the list of foods I am allowed to eat is currently very limited. I have had to adapt to this, and have found some wonderful recipes on the internet, expanding my menu and enthusiasm for cooking. This wouldn’t have been possible without technology, which in this case has served as an incredible enabler.

In order to consider if we have an emotional connection to technology, and to consider if we love technology, we must consider how we would feel if it was gone. Take a moment to think about how technology is embedded in your own life and how you would feel if it was all taken away? Would you miss it? Would you feel lost?

“Can we really trust technology? Does it have our best interests at heart?”

Trust Me

Trust is an emotion, something we feel; it is a difficult concept to understand, to develop, and to accept. Amongst people, trust is something that can take a long time to establish, we have to build a relationship, respect, and become comfortable with others in order to trust them.

Technology has enabled us to develop trust for something or someone in an instant. It can be very easy to read an article online and take its content as gospel, without any thought to its validity or credentials of the author. In the brief moment is has taken to read the article we have developed respect and trust for it.

Just as technology has impacted our ways of developing trust, it has also impacted the ways we lose and regain trust. When we lose trust in a friend, it can take a long time for that trust to be regained, they have to show to us that they have changed, or prove we can trust them again.

There is a lot going on in the news at the moment which is damaging our trust for technology; the hot topics of ‘fake news’, tracking, and data capture (cough Facebook) to name just a few. Can we really trust technology? Does it have our best interests at heart?

In these cases, we as society have been massively betrayed by technology. Yet, unlike losing trust in a friend it appears we are able to let this go very easily. They seem to pass as a scandal, lasting only as long as the media feel it’s a productive talking point, there doesn’t appear to be any long term consequence.

So, are we so dependent on technology that we simply allow this to happen? Is it that we can’t afford to not use technology, so no matter what we will always forgive and forget. Through the recent Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal there has been a movement to encourage users to leave the platform (although it would appear this wouldn’t even matter from a data tracking and privacy point of view). I have a Facebook account, I would like to not have a Facebook account, not just because of the recent findings but for many other reasons too. The reality is I can’t afford to not have one, some aspects of my life that are tied to it, for example I need to manage my businesses profile.

I can not allow myself to forgive Facebook for their actions, I do not trust them, but for some reason I do not let this influence my use of their product. I think we need to get to a point where we do consider trust as an important factor in the technology we use, we need to understand how this weighs up against usefulness and productivity. This may only come through greater transparency, we should all be allowed to understand or at least have awareness of the technology we use and what it is doing. We should also have options available to us, if technology loses our trust we should be able to find an alternative, just as we may find a new friend.

“We must therefore be careful about the technology we build”

Concluding Thoughts

I find it quite interesting to consider how we have let ourselves become so free with our emotions towards technology. It has the ability to influence people in ways we never thought imaginable, and perhaps how we never intended. We must therefore be careful about the technology we build, ensuring we take time to consider its impact on society carefully.

The ability to get information in an instant, find answers to our questions with speed is vital to our society. These are core concepts I always try to consider with the work I produce.

“It is the potential for this social and community impact that keeps me motivated”

My Vision

I believe we will find technology most impactful when we utilise it correctly, finding a purposeful balance between it and our everyday lives, our friends, and our family. As an advocate for technology for good, it is the potential for this social and community impact that keeps me motivated.

Next Steps

These are my thoughts and musings; you may see the world in a different way. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. How do you feel emotionally attached to technology?

In Part 3, I will be looking at our connection with technology on an intellectual level, considering the closing gap we are seeing due to the rise in A.I. and M.L.