Samkit Kundalia
Nov 7 · 3 min read

Technology and it’s Effects on Human Behaviour

Photo from health.usf.edu

Humans are, at their very core, social animals. Their behaviour and actions are a result of how they interact with other people around them. Even the simplest conversations have the potential to change one’s perspectives on both private and social issues. Technological growth facilitates these conversations. However, as technology develops rapidly, human interactions are becoming more and more inhumane.

With Facebook and Twitter, thousands of people are just a click away from us. But some people have misused this luxury as a tool to hide behind a screen and hurt and manipulate people. “You’re looking plump lately.” may be funny for one person, but for another, this comment may cause self-esteem issues. There’s also too much information available to us that is just some half-thought out argument or a mindless rant. The overflow of this information has caused some people to lose their capacity to think independently and form original opinions. People defend such opinions with no evidence as well.The #amazonrainforest and #amazonia posts on my Facebook feed gradually got replaced by the #itchapter2 and #pennywisetheclown posts as September went by. This increasing dependence on technology as a source of opinions rather than information leads to unimportant issues being overblown and important ones being overlooked.

This problem has its repercussions not only on a societal level, but also on an individual level. In 2017, the average screen-time for 2 to 8-year olds was 3 hours and for teenagers it was a staggering 9 hours per day (Source). A lot of my friends would rather email a teacher or text a friend than meeting them face-to-face. Some people may argue that by bringing more people in contact with each other, technology has actually enhanced social interaction. However, a Study by the Department of Education of the Philippines showed how the range of full-body behaviours is drastically better in a face-to-face classroom than it is an online facility. Lack of quality interaction may also cause people to feel alienated, making them more vulnerable to mental health issues. It’s ironic how the technology that connects us to someone a thousand miles away also makes us isolated from the people around us.

Exposure to technology has rewired our brains. With all the clutter in our lives, we are a more distracted and forgetful population than we were just a few years ago. And that’s made it harder to get our attention and our commitment to things. According to research, attention span in Humans has staggered to a low of mere 8.25 seconds compared to 15 seconds in the 2000s, when the mobile revolution embarked on its journey.

I believe that technology is ruining the fabric of Human Society- Communication.With advent of instant messaging and free calls we have taken relationships for granted.Therefore, with technology developing at an ever-increasing rate, it is becoming more and more important for humans to realise that the true purpose of technology is to enhance the way humans interact with each other and the world. If this goal isn’t realised, it is plausible that humans would distance themselves from humanity and then become a civilisation of motherboards connected via a Metropolitan Area Network- MAN.

Other Sources:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0265407512453827

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