Turkle’s book on the psychology of human relationships with technology reminds us that just because technology can help us solve a problem, doesn’t mean it was a problem in the first place.
And yet, we’re still being urged from every side to become more efficient. We are drowning in a glut of tools, kneeling at the altar of productivity, imprisoning ourselves in an endless loop of technology, and ultimately burdening our brains with a load they can’t bear.
The narrative around technology claims to make the world a better, more connected, more informed place.
But I wonder if we’re just generating extra pain for ourselves. I wonder if our obsession with the trivial irritations, minuscule inconveniences and petty nuisances of technology is degrading us into the worst versions of ourselves.
Durst painted the picture perfectly in his popular article about our technology obsession.
You see them staggering down our streets, heads bowed as if in prayer making the occasional grunting noise. Mindless, drooling, deanimated human husks walking blindly into fountains, crosswalks and lamp posts. Wake up people. We are in the middle of a science fiction movie. Welcome to the invasion of the phone zombies.
What’s interesting is, horror films always portrayed zombies as these undead beings created through the reanimation of human corpses, searching for flesh to feed on.
But in the modern world, we see a different kind of zombie. One that has lost its ability to wonder and solve problems and make eye contact and get lost and turn to the person next to them and say ask for directions.
This can’t be good for the species.
If we don’t practice relying on the very things that make us human, instinct, intellect, memory and connection, than our most vital muscles will atrophy.
It’s time to amend our worship of efficiency. To stop driving ourselves crazy scrutinizing every little tic and twitch and ping and blip that comes zapping into our precious little devices.
Enough with the apps. Fuck notifications. Do we really need another thing to keep up with?
Certainly there is more to life that getting things done.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you oblivious to the world around you, pecking at your tiny, handheld windows into a private world?
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.
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Namaste.
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