Is Technology Making or Breaking Us?

Technology in one form or another is undoubtedly ingrained into each and every one of us. Within younger generations especially, it seems they instinctually understand the flow of technological devices. While this can be an incredible useful skill especially as we enter the job market and begin to offer our human services to the world, there is also a huge capacity for this same technology to create trouble in our person-person relationships. I believe that people our age are very well-positioned in the technology spectrum of dependence; we are able to learn things quickly as they premiere but we aren't so ingrained within the system that we don't remember the days of entertaining ourselves and asking questions of PEOPLE to find our answers.

It seems however, that more and more sources come out with evidence that early exposure to screen-time and technology can have a lasting impact on the behavior of an individual and their ability to make real world connections. We can see through this study of babies with their parents that still eyes and unresponsive faces can have capacity to cause social distress in the mind of a baby or toddler that can leave an impression, the exact type of still eye and inattention that can be found when a parent is on their phone in the presence of a child.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90491367/screens-are-lifesavers-right-now-but-theyre-still-relationship-wreckers

These types of studies bring up the question of just how much technology is okay for us? When do we hit a dangerous range and how do we know? The more our society replaces technology for human-problem solving, the more we are forced to rely on technology to an extent, leaving even less room in someone's daily life to have technology-free time. We know that spending time away from the screens is crucial to our brain health and our relationships with others, and that too much technology can cause problems with out sleep patterns, mood, eye function, energy levels, posture, and much more. How do we find a balance that allows us to both progress in today's world and retain the human connections that are fundamental to enjoying life?

Personally, I think my relationship with technology probably creeps into a "too much" place, but overall I try to find a balance. I still like to read paper books and newspapers, and especially when I find myself with kids, I really try to keep technology out of what we are doing. I find that it instantly spikes their mood and puts people on edge, as if it's something crucial to their functioning that you can't take away. I get very nervous when I see kids with a clearly unhealthy relationship to technology, and most of all I notice that they're particularly quiet. Usually when you think of a child, you imagine a tiny little being full of energy and questions for the world around them, but the current picture of both kids and adults it seems are for introverted and on-edge individuals with a focus on their technology rather than human connection.

If one were to ask me, I think that I would say the way we can find balance between technology and real-world is to keep the human source alive. DON'T STOP ASKING QUESTIONS! But don't ask them of Google, she definitely has the answer and that's no fun. Ask a human next time you don't know something and just see what happens. The correct answer may not be found out, but both people will definitely learn something. I think in this age of technology people have forgotten how special the other people are. Humans can still do things that technology cannot, and it's important that we don't outsource those jobs to something technological just because we can. Human knowledge and experience is still a worth wile source, and only some of this can be found through technology. It's important that we will value humans for their technological components, otherwise we are making ourselves lesser than the technology that we ourselves create. .

All life is about balance, and technology is no exception. Next time you need to solve a problem, try and let a human help you through it, or at least ask yourself why the first instinct was to pull out your phone. I promise that all humans, even kiddos, have exceptional knowledge that cannot be found online, and that this knowledge is the key to our human happiness and experience on this planet.