Is life in a digital world making us forget what it means to be human?
“I am SO out of breath”
I can’t tell you the number of strange looks I received for thinking aloud on the horrendous 4:07 Northern Rail towards Blackpool North . In my defense, I had just run faster than I thought was possible to catch that train.
But it did get me thinking…
Had a stranger on Twitter posted the same thing, no-one would have blinked an eye. In fact, I’m sure it’d receive numerous retweets and would spark a conversation uniting people on their tiredness! Do words (from a physical person) shock people that much?
Dr Lieberman explains, when humans diverged from apes all those years ago, it was the lower position of the larynx, which allowed us to speak, sing and develop language. This distinguished us from chimpanzees! But in current society, we feel more comfortable using our fingers to speak than our larynx, which evolved to define us as humans…
Communication and relationships
Now leading on from the idea that communication makes us human, it is unanimously agreed that communication is key to every relationship. Richard Watson writes in his book that technology is weakening our relationships. The constant “connectedness” we feel as a result of technology, means we are always distracted by something. Thus we are unable to fully focus on ourselves OR on others. Now whilst I agree with this point, I did feel it was unbalanced, as surely websites like Facebook and Twitter enable us to stay in touch with people, to help maintain relationships?
To gather public views on the topic I set up the following Facebook poll:
So yes, whilst the majority did think technology is weakening relationships, I learned that there were people who thought it improved relationships. Comments left in response to my post explained that social media and apps like Whats app allow people to stay in contact with friends and family abroad with ease, and LinkedIn is hugely beneficial for professional purposes to generate new contacts globally, which before the digital age would have been impossible.
However, the majority explained that although digital platforms allow relationships to develop with MORE people, the developing relationships are shallower and lacking in depth and meaning.
Back to Cavemen
Newsy’s YouTube documentary “Sold in America” is a gripping, insightful piece I’d recommend everyone spare 60 minutes to watch. Featuring an inside view of America’s sex trade, it opened my eyes to the darker side of humanity, a side we often overlook.
Part 3 of the documentary focuses on backpage.com, a site prostitutes used to create online profiles to sell sex that buyers could access. backpage.com have faced huge press attention this year, and as of April 6th 2018, all backpage.com affiliated sites have been seized.
But for years before this?
“Between 2006 and 2017 backpage.com was involved in 74% of all reports received of online child sex trafficking” National center for missing and exploited children
“ ¾’s, maybe 80% of commercial sex trafficking occurs on ONE single site (backpage.com)” “They know they’re doing it, they are taking ads of under-aged girls and editing them” Senator Rob Portman
Shutting down backpage.com has huge controversies, but from a legal and criminal perspective, it took congress much longer than it should have to shut down a site which facilitated crimes like sex trafficking and pedophilia. This is because websites are not accountable for posts by third parties under the Communications Decency Act. Had this been a brick and mortar organisation, it wouldn’t have taken this long.
For me personally, the case of backpage.com strongly highlighted the dangers of the online world. Whilst we walk around the streets in town proud of our ethical and moral code, feeling as though we have advanced as humans from the caveman eras in our laws and morals, the second we sit in front of a screen it is too easy to revert back to our primal days when we were exempt from legal laws and regulations.
“The boy who woke up the world”
One must admit, however, that online platforms have also shown humanity in a positive light. In 2015, 3-year old Aylan Kurdi was pictured face down washed ashore on a beach in Turkey. Aylan and his family had escaped their home country, hoping to start a new life outside of war-torn Syria. On the way to Greece, the rubber boat carrying them capsized, leaving Abdullah, Aylans father, as the only survivor. Aylan, his older brother and mother all lost their lives.
This photo of Aylan was shared globally on many social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. Aylan’s gut-wrenching picture stirred public concern for Syrian refugees more powerfully than news reports and body counts ever had, which by this point had reached hundreds of thousands.
This image, shared on digital platforms, revived humanity in the hearts of people all over the world. Monthly donors for Syrian refugees increased 10-fold, and donations to Swedish Red Cross was 55 x greater in the week after the photo was shared.
There isn’t a single person I witnessed who saw this picture and didn’t choke up.
The verdict
As much as I would love to give a straightforward answer to my initial question, concluding the digital world increases our humanness feels like injustice to the children sold by pimps on blackpage.com. Similarly, writing off digital platforms as downfalls of humanity, feels unfair to the humanitarian work online platforms aid, and the thousands of people who are able to stay in touch using social media. The digital world provides a certain barrier which makes it too easy for humanity to slip, but provided the online world is subject to regulation and people utilise digital platforms ethically, it can be of huge benefit to humanity.
Reflection
This is going to sound cliché no matter how I say this. But..
The Digital Society changed me. And I feel that’s when you know you’ve done something worthwhile. The Internet of Things made me see the world in a different light.
On the bus to University, I imagined a day when the bikes on Oxford Road may have an automatic link to my lab class to inform the tutor what time I’d be arriving. Driving down smart motorways was more than just a motorway drive- it reminded me of all the work that was done to connect devices to allow it to function.
On one hand, it made me look forward to a future where our daily tasks may be automated, easier, like pressing a button from your bedroom which starts off your shower, kettle and toaster. Simultaneously!
But, the cynical side of me was worried at how much our lives would change, and if this would completely change us as people.
Will we forget how to do mundane tasks?
I realised, although I believed I was outdated compared to many of my peers, with accounts only on Facebook and WhatsApp (Group work forced me to make a Facebook account!), I was still heavily dependent on the digital world. I can’t remember the last time I went to a friend’s house and used the doorbell to alert them of my presence…
Before being enrolled onto this unit, I had always felt sharing everything on social media was invading, and I felt worried at our inability to express ourselves properly in front of people. But I had never thought any deeper. I hadn’t realised the ethics behind data usage that came to attention due to the Cambridge Analytica scandal and by discussing the case of Ashley Madison. I hadn’t realised just how easy it was to use digital platforms to facilitate crimes, and it had never occurred me how necessary and important it is for the web and digital platforms to also have some sort of regulation. Being able to discuss these issues with people from all sectors of the University was enlightening, as it allowed me to consider a variety of viewpoints and ideas to form my own informed opinions.
The unit has also taught me many practical skills. I have learnt how to attribute and evaluate online content correctly, and gained an understanding of intellectual property rights. I learnt how to communicate more effectively online, and this experience of blog writing showed me how much I enjoy it. I hope to continue this after the unit!
The PechaKucha challenged me most. I found it difficult to remain as concise as a PechaKucha demands, but I now feel much more confident doing this, and I am certain this is a skill which will be beneficial academically and professionally.
Overall…
The digital society has been an eye-opening experience I am so glad I was part of :)
