Should we think more about the impact of technology on our lives?

While we were out for a meal last night, Jenni and I were sitting next to a group of 10 or so people. They were having a good time, sitting around a few tables brought together. Having eaten their food, they then began taking photos of each other until a 'selfie-stick' came out.

As everyone leaned back for a big picture, I simply thought about how that before this invention hit the market what probably would have happened is that the group would have asked someone from another table to take the photo for them. This was a tiny and momentary missed opportunity for a simple human interaction which only would have taken a few seconds, but I think it is a profound one.

The more technology develops, the more it appears to negate the necessity of human interaction and engagement. Everyone is aware of the example of the family sitting down at the dinner table and no one talks because they are on their phones. I admit (and Jenni will happily tell you!) that I spend too much time on my phone checking twitter or playing games. But in recent years technology has continued to chip away at opportunities to interact with those we don't know as we become more and more insular in the way we live our lives. Think of the following scenario:

In previous years, I could have made a weekly trip to run some errands. I would have briefly spoken to the bus driver to say where I wanted to go, the person at the till to buy my shopping and the person at the bank to transfer some money or pay a cheque in. I am not saying I would have had life-changing conversations with these people, but I would hope that I would have spent enough time to see if they'd had a nice day, and sub-consciously remind myself that I don't just exist in the self-contained bubble that is my own life. The reality is that today, none of those things require any human interaction at all: I can swipe my oyster card on the bus; pay at the self-service checkout in the supermarket and do my bank transfers on my phone (while probably sitting on the bus not talking to anyone).

Clearly, the advances in technology have brought untold benefits for society at the same time - of course that's true. Skype allows us to speak to people around the world, and medical technology means we can cure more disease than ever before. But like most things within God's creation, positive things can be distorted. What we see as helping us be more efficient, may be taking us away from the things that are most important in life.

That is perhaps one of the more ironic things about technology: we think it will allow us more time to do the things we need to do or like, but actually we often find we fill this time with more technology. Some research has suggested our addiction to technology means we have shorter attention spans.

The theologian Jaqcues Ellul wrote prophetically about this way back in the mid 20th century before any talk of smart-phones or selfie-sticks: 'The first great fact which emerges from our civilization is that today everything has become "means". There is no longer an "end". We have forgotten our collective ends, and we possess great means: we set huge machines in motion in order to arrive nowhere.'

His point is that there are things in life that are supposed to serve greater things than simply themselves. Technology is supposed to serve humanity by making it easier (means) to prioritise what is most important in life (ends). Most people would probably say the most important things in life are relationships and a sense that they are part of something (society, faith etc) that is bigger than just themselves. I would certainly argue this is the case in Christianity. The fact is that in many ways, we are so obsessed with the 'means' of communicating and being efficient, that we do not take the time to simply enjoy life and intentionally wonder at its beauty. We often care more about our 'personal brand' (horrible phrase) that we project on social media than we do about intentionally investing in real relationships.

The amount of times I've said and heard friends say 'I'm so busy at the moment' in the context of not having enough time to do what they want to do; I certainly know if I spent half the time on my phone/computer I probably wouldn't have to say this as often.

Ellul continues:
'people do not even realise that the means which are now being employed involve the negation of implicit ends. So they congratulate themselves every time a speed record has been achieved by an aeroplane, and people work very hard to still go faster, as if speed were a valid and sufficient aim in itself. But what is the use of gaining time like this? Every time a new remedy is discovered everybody is delighted, and people work harder than ever to extend the work of healing. But what is the use of the life which we take so much time to conserve? What is the value of life, since it is that time and life no longer have any meaning, that [we] really do not know to do with [our] time'
Our society is not very good at asking questions like: what is the value of time? We prefer simply to fill it however we can, and more often than not, this is with some form of technology.

The only criteria used to judge whether a new creation is worth making is 'will it sell'? It may feel like standing before a tsunami with a mini-fan trying to stop the tide, but maybe it is time to think a bit more deeply about the impact of technology on our lives and admit that there are some things that will impoverish us as well as things which make the world a better place.

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