M. Jagadesh Kumar
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110016
(How to cite this article: M. J. Kumar, “The Malady of Technology in our Lives: Is Anyone Listening?”, IETE Technical Review, Vol.30 (1), pp.1-3, Jan-Feb 2013.)
Technology is defined as “Science or knowledge applied to a definite purpose” [1]. For centuries, technology has continued to affect human lives. In the recent past, communication platforms such as internet, computers, i-pods and smart mobile phones have influenced us more than any other technology [2]. As time evolves, more such technological tools will make their way into our lives and transform the way we think, interact and progress.
Technology does enhance human capabilities in terms of what humans can do now compared to what they did a few decades ago. However, integration of technology in every sphere of our life seems to be making us weaker both physically and intellectually turning us into mere consuming robots than productive human beings. While technology rapidly evolves and remains modern, we as human beings are becoming obsolete. Faster evolution of technology only adds to our feeling of inadequacy since we are constantly in a race to catch up and possess the new technological tools.
Does engaging ourselves with the modern electronic applications take away from us the power of innovation? Do we get time to reflect about ourselves and our surroundings? Does technology affect the balance between our work and leisure time since we are expected to be online and available all the time? Is our privacy being invaded unhindered? If our lives become so acculturated with technology, will we be able to continue to focus and draw attention to the issues that affect us? Doesn’t an exuberant dependence on technology make us more vulnerable? Is it not time to be serious about assessing new technologies for their impact on us? The objective of this article is to look at some of these questions briefly.
Technology makes it easier for us to accomplish many tasks without any physical and mental effort. That is a big destroyer of two things: our physical mobility and mental ability. Let me look at a few examples.
When you step on the road it is not uncommon to see nearly everyone in the streets talking or texting from a mobile phone immersed in their own virtual world. Many of us, primarily youngsters, tend to be more pre-occupied with the visual media such as online games, you-tube, i-pods and GPS enabled smart phones. The problem with this media is that information keeps changing continuously since it is a real-time media. Isn’t true that while knowledge is always bounded, imagination has no limits? However, users dependent on visual media hardly get time for reflection and imagination which are essential ingredients for developing critical thinking skills [3].
The negative effects of violence in online games, such as aggressive behaviour and lack of sensitivity to real life violence, are now well documented. While children below two years are not recommended to use technology, they end up watching TV for not less than couple of hours [4]. This makes them spend less time exploring their surroundings resulting in a reduced motor and psychological development. The practice of reading from the print media is generally declining among the children and even adults. A recent Oxford university study, involving 17,200 people, has shown that regular reading habits will likely to enhance their ability to do well academically and later in their professional careers [5].
The implications of internet addiction are well understood [6,7]. This is no different from any other forms of addiction such as alcohol or drug addiction which can play havoc with our ability to carry out our social responsibilities. We seem to be meeting too many persons in the virtual world while our conversations with people around us are on a decline. Our bonding with keypads and touch screens is only making us disconnect with the real world resulting in unexpected effects.
Social media paradoxically may lead us to social isolation. Our emotional needs cannot be met by virtual relationships. Use of too much social media technology, such as facebook, twitter and my space, momentarily increases our self-esteem and makes us loose our self-control [8]. Lack of self-control, as in the case of addictive alcohol consumption, can lead to undesirable social behaviour.
Isn’t technology supposed to enhance the existing societal and individual styles of our lives and provide solutions to our needs? The rapid integration of technology in over lives seems to be doing the opposite. Spirituality, ethics and human sciences appear to be pushed to the background by the sudden surge of technological evolution [9]. Technology makes everything a few steps nearer and as many of us continue to experience, the application of technology has often ended up as a problem embedded as part of the solution. Can we draw some lessons here?
Technology will continue to forge ahead and there is no doubt that we will adapt ourselves to the new technologies because of its innumerable advantages. However, along with the technological developments, should we not also evolve methods which will enable us to be selective about the choice of technologies? Should a technology be adopted by society just because it seems useful at the time of its entry although its future impact is poorly understood?
We often deploy a given technology, even when it is not acceptably safe and know that it will have indirect and unanticipated negative fall outs on society. Once a technology becomes widely accepted in everyday life, we also become less sensitive about the risks versus benefits reassessment and accept the risks associated with technologies without any serious thought. Today, technology has become so integrated in our lives that we seem to have acquired a completely blurred risk perception.
The transformative impact of new technologies on societies could be immense. It is not always conceivable to foresee the potential influence of new technologies while we are still mesmerized by its appealing “benefits”. However, before a technology becomes part of our everyday living and begins to influence the way we live and interact with each other, we need to assess the technology for its likely societal, environmental and economic implications. Technology assessment is about values and a deep reflection, and analysis of human survival’s interdependence on each other and nature. Kleinman defines technology assessment as “a practice intended to enhance societal understanding of the broad implications of science and technology” [10].
Universities and higher educational institutes can play an important role in innovating technology assessment methods and training of researchers to be able to carry out research and analysis. But sadly, these are issues of least prominence in our science and engineering curriculum. As Kleinman says, public engagement in technology assessment is vital too since they will bring in “life experiences and social values” which are seldom in the domain of the experts. A wider involvement in technology assessment will enable in incorporating public concerns while making policy decisions on technological evolutionary trajectories [10]. There are already evidences of how this participatory technology assessment can lead to “significant learning and opinion changes” in the evolution of emerging technologies such as nanotechnology [11].
Only when we recognize the importance of technology assessment before any new technology gets entrenched in the society, will we realize a meaningful balance between happy living and robotic existence. Technology assessment is not a one-time task but an incessant process and should evolve at a much rapid rate. Or else, we will remain to be submerged in the unanticipated outcomes of new technologies. Unfortunately, there is no adequate focus and informed discussion on these issues in the public domain except in a few cases [11, 12].
The odds against those suggesting a careful assessment and a balanced integration of technology in our lives are staggering and such advocates may even be considered as anti-technology and old-fashioned. Given the situation, it is time for a concerted effort to rethink whether to adopt technology assessment as an integral part of technology development and if so, how soon we should do it. The fertile ground to create this appreciation is the schools and colleges where we groom the future technology creators and its users.
Isn’t reaping the benefits of new technologies as important as being cognizant of their destabilizing effects? As scientists and academicians, we have an obligation to raise awareness among our youngsters and general public no sooner than later. Is anyone listening?
References:
[1] D. Banta, “What is technology assessment?”, International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, Vol.25, pp. 7-9, 2009.
[2] J. Sullins, “Information Technology and Moral Values”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/it-moral-values/.
[3] “Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?”, ScienceDaily, University of California – Los Angeles, January 29, 2009. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm
[4] “Children, Adolescents and Television”, American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Public Education, Pediatrics, Vol.107 (2), pp.423-426, 2001.
[5] http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2011/110804.html
[6] L. Leung and P.S.N. Lee, “Impact of Internet Literacy, Internet Addiction Symptoms, and Internet Activities on Academic Performance”, Social Science Computer Review, Vol.30, Issue:4, pp.403-418, November 2012.
[7] S. W. Choi, “Internet addiction: Why we become addicted to the Internet?”, Asia-Pacific Psychiatry, Vol.4, Special Issue: SI Supplement: 1, pp.12-12, October 2012.
[8] K.Wilcox and A.T. Stephen, “Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social Networks, Self-Esteem, and Self-Control”, Journal of Consumer Research, Forthcoming Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 12-57, Date posted: October 3, 2012. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2155864
[9] B. Popoveniuc, “Psycho-logic within techno-logical settings,” European Journal of Science and Theology, Vol.9, pp.143-155, February 2013.
[10] D.L. Kleinman, “Rethink Technology Assessment”, Issues in Science and Technology, Vol.27, Issue: 2, pp.20-22, 2011.
[11] D.H. Guston, “Participating Despite Questions: Toward a More Confident Participatory Technology Assessment”, Science and Engineering Ethics, Vol.17, pp.691-697, December 2011.
[12] http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/techself/
I think that the root cause of the above problem is that people have begun mistaking intelligence for wisdom. All parents pray for their children to be intelligent and smart, but they forget that this will not guarantee that their child is also wise. However, wisdom is a much more important quality to have as compared to intelligence and smartness. An intelligent person with no wisdom is like a speeding Ferrari without brakes. Perfect recipe for disaster!
Over the past thousands of years, Indian sages have gathered a wealth of knowledge and wisdom about the right way to lead a life. However, this wisdom is not imparted in our schools and colleges since people tend to give it the color of religion. We need to understand that the Upanishads and Gita have nothing to do with any particular religion and can be a great source of guidance for people from all walks of life and all professions.
Management institutions have started realizing this and some management gurus do teach many ideas using lessons from the Gita. I wonder when engineering and other colleges will start doing the same.
I completely agree with your point here. In the gurukul system, education was much different than what it is today. Students were taught to think properly and wisely. This ability to think and gather wisdom seems to be missing in modern education. Subjects like philosophy and psychology should be taught to kids in school so that they develop a strong moral ground and become wise. Strong emphasis on Science and Math is going to produce the result we are seeing today. Its high time that the education system be revamped.
As to the ‘Malady of Technology’, the question is as new to the humankind, as the ‘lighting a fire’ or the wheel.
Man invents technologies out of his necessity to free himself from the routine so that he can utilize his mind for more important things in life that should have a higher priority.
Those who are stuck in the routine which the technology has relieved, end up with an idle mind. Of course, ‘An idle mind is a devil’s workshop’. It is indeed the ‘devil’s workshop’ that churns out other applicationsof the technology that end up as malady
So, the real malady is the idleness of mind and not technology.
Response received by email:
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Thanks for sharing this article. I think there is definitely a section of the society who are thinking about these issues but as you rightly stated – is anyone listening!
Professor, School of Biological Sciences, IIT Delhi
You have written extremely real thing, which represents today’s situation. As you said, ‘Our emotional needs cannot be met by virtual relationships’ – this is very much true. Now a days, many have hundreds of friends on facebook,, google plus etc……….. But among them, how many friends are available when actually needed. They are only for liking your status, pic and all these things. No one cares about you. In real, you are still living a lonely life. THIS IS THE BEST EXAMPLE of the above line.
The following email is from Prof. Girish Kumar, IIT Bombay, who has been working very hard to create awareness about the safe radiation limits from cell phone towers and mobile phones:
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Bioinitiative Report 2012 has been uploaded. It has been prepared by 29 authors from ten countries. You can see the details at:
http://www.bioinitiative.org/
For Bioinitiative Report 2012 Conclusions, please see:
http://www.bioinitiative.org/conclusions/
Following paragraph is taken from the conclusion:
LOW EXPOSURE LEVELS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH BIOEFFECTS AND ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS AT CELL TOWER RFR EXPOSURE LEVELS
At least five new cell tower studies are reporting bioeffects in the range of 0.003 to 0.05 uW/cm2 at lower levels than reported in 2007 (0.05 to 0.1 uW/cm2 was the range below which, in 2007, effects were not observed). Researchers report headaches, concentration difficulties and behavioral problems in children and adolescents; and sleep disturbances, headaches and concentration problems in adults. Public safety standards are 1,000 10,000 or more times higher than levels now commonly reported in mobile phone base station studies to cause bioeffects.
My comment:
(0.05 uW/cm2 = 0.5 milliWatts/m2). India has adopted safe radiation density of 450 milliWatts/m2 from Sep. 1, 2012, which is still higher
by 900 times than the safe level.
Please share it with all your known people to create awareness.
With regards.
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Girish Kumar
Professor, Electrical Engineering Department
I.I.T. Bombay, Powai, Mumbai – 400076, INDIA
Tel. – (022) 2576 7436, Fax – (022) 2572 3707
email- gkumar@ee.iitb.ac.in
Blog – http://profgirishkumar.blogspot.in/
Should a technology be adopted by society just because it seems useful at the time of its entry although its future impact is poorly understood?
I think technology has nothing to do with its impact. It’s our approach how we use technology. Einstein discovered concept about nuclear energy. Probably he had never thought of its abuse as happened in the Second World War. Do you expect that somebody had appreciated Einstein for this innovation that time? Actually his innovation was correct but it was intentionally abused. That’s why he later discovered concept of controlled nuclear power generation. Now the same technology is being utilized to enhance human living. Assessment of technology would result in two obvious streams- Advantages and drawbacks. Drawbacks are always associated with any technology. Take a simple example of electricity. I think nothing is more helpful than this but at the same time it’s also much dangerous. One may call it life taking technology making the life cool and comfortable. One touches the electric wire and his life is at risk. But we adopted it in everyday life because of it’s utility and it’s drawback is avoided by not to touch the wire. Even a child knows the consequences of touching a wire. That’s why he doesn’t dare to touch. He would only touch the switch.
As you are talking about the communication technology like FB, twitter, or google, internet, youtube or anything like this which seems to create a virtual world where our youngsters love to spend more and seems separated from the real world, I don’t completely agree. If this is really making the people unsocial then why recently so great movements in India happened by our youngsters? Technology is helping in a great way. Technology is always making us more dependent and handicapped. But internet/computers have done this at more pace than any other technology did. It’s because of its entertaining nature and availability at low cost. And whatever a virtual world this technology has created it is because youngsters feel comfortable in it, they enjoy the online/ computer games. Basically this technology is a great tool for pastime.
Technology assessment can give only drawbacks while benefits we don’t need to worry about. Major concern should be to make the society aware of the drawbacks of the technology. But in case of computer/internet technology this drawback is taken as the benefit by the society. And this is the problem. And if the society is taking those drawbacks as benefits then we have to develop the new system where same things in which people are interested, should be provided by new means but not by computers/ internet. We need to develop new tools for pastime which are really helpful to society. And sport may help up to great extent. Good infrastructure should be provided and from school level we need to develop the interest towards sports in our kids. Let’s play the angry bird in the ground not on the computer screen. We may develop new type of games where youngsters and olders may play as a team and interact. Let’s bring the two worlds come closer. I think right to play may be helpful. And a basic change in education system is required otherwise on assessment can help the society. Let’s touch the smart phone for what it’s made for.
Very well said. I find that my mental maths ability was at its sharpest during school days as calculators were banned. Once I was in engineering I started getting a little lazy as calculators were allowed but I felt I was still OK. Come professional life I am so heavily dependent or I should say addicted to MS excel and my smart phone apps. Declining mental maths ability though is of least concern as it is best to less stress the human brain and minimize instances of bombardment with differential equations. What I see as a serious problem is people not paying attention while crossing the road or driving as they are busy using their smart phone. I see a lot of kids getting fatter as they have turned into couch potatoes and spend time on their tablets instead of playing sport. Overdependence on technology of the kind that we witness today can have serious health implications on future generations. Something that universities should draw the attention of students towards as you rightly pointed out in your blog.
On a lighter note, (being directly involved with Mobile phones) overuse of technology by people pays my bills. Hence I wish mankind churns out smart phone purchasing zombies.
A very apt title ‘Is anyone listening’
With headgears, earphones or mobiles constantly glued to the ears, one certainly has to rap and ask ‘Is anyone listening?” and yes, many youngsters do not wish to be disturbed from the world which they have built around them-the virtual world, albeit for a few minutes.
It is cool to be spotted with the latest gadgets and sadly, acceptance/esteem seems to be coming from there rather than achievements.Not very different on the home front-each member of the family is sitting with his/her laptop. Alone together!
Anything in ecxess is bad and eveh food can become poison. As you pointed out, it is very easy to get addicted to games, social media networking sites etc and the person may not even be aware that she/he is addicted.
It is definitely the need of the hour that awareness is raised among youngsters and general public. You have done a great job in this direction, do also publish this in a journal/magazine so as to reach across to a larger audience.
Response received by email:
It is wonderful for me to see that such outstanding professional in technical sciences as you, has such broad insights over its work domain. This kind of social self-consicence is the thing that nurtures my hope and perspective in a possible enlightened future of our global society in the near future, despite so boding trends in international economy, politics and culture.
Thank you,
Associate Professor, Bogdan Popoveniuc, Ph.D.
Department of Human, Social and Political Sciences,
Universitatea “Stefan cel Mare” din Suceava
Str. Universitatii 13, 720229 Suceava, Romania
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Prof. Popoveniuc has also sent information on an interesting conference on “The Progress and Uncertainties of Human-Robot Relationships”. Details are given below:
Due to technological interfaces and homo- and robo- sapiens encounters, our nurturing instinct and general emotional dispositions have evolved over time. In a certain way there has been a re-injection of the human into the human-machine equation. The present symposium is an enquiry into the possible forms of relations humans can experience with robots for everyday life. As humans, we have our habits : we perform a sub-set of our daily tasks with the help of machine strength, machine intelligence or robots configured for specific tasks (some only entertain the idea of accepting to do so). Technological advance and applications in the fields of service robotics, epigenetic robotics and cognitive robotics go to suggest great opportunities for change although our habits guide us to reserving another sub-set of activities to be done with humans only. Question: being permanently faced with technological change, will we remain tributary to our habits? Will we be able to, or even wish to, maintain the separation we entertain between human-centred activities and robot-lead activities? Human companions do trigger human interest, quite naturally, but what are personal robots, as well as virtual or digital companions able to do? Some people already seem more enticed by a screen than a face. In this symposium we plan to discuss the scientific, religious and media-driven conceptions in relation to the integration of robots and cyborgs in society, artificial pleasure and discomfort, communitarian value-sphere and social change.
Keywords & Topics: ▪ Indetermination ▪ Seduction ▪ Risk ▪ Artificial General Intelligence ▪ Social impact ▪ Originality in robotic creations ▪ Cognitive enhancement ▪ Technological offer and influence ▪ Dogma, moral and technological discovery ▪ Care-giving robots ▪ Robot companions for citizens ▪ Advanced robotics for increased social presence ▪ Personification ▪ Acceptance ▪ Incommunicability ▪ Human factors philosophy ▪ Revision of the definition of Relationships ▪ Hybrid engineering ▪ Freedom and rights of machines ▪ Co-constructed experiences ▪ Artificial Selfs and Identities ▪ Permanence of human values, Ethics ▪ The uncanny valley problem ▪ Communication and dialogue ▪ Human resemblance and undecidability ▪ Personal preferences ▪ Theoretical controversies
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Vincent MÜLLER, James Martin Research Fellow, Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology, University of Oxford & ACT Thessaloniki. Coordinator of the European Union Network for Cognitive Systems, Robotics and Interaction
You may find more information here on the entire event and how to submit (deadline 17 January 2013):
http://www.laval-virtual.org/2013/?p=308
Thanks for the apt discussion.
I wonder if the problem of technology assessment is also that of identifying to what extent we wish to ‘accept’ versus ‘control’.
Given that life itself is a product of spontaneous process, what causes the wish to control.
I feel that technology itself is a method to control.
Once we start .. we do not know where to stop.
For technology assessment, can we develop ‘apriori’ rules. Rules that set the balance of ‘accept’ vs. ‘control’ in each domain of life, from food to flights, from ‘health’ to ‘wealth’. Can we fix rules as to where the technology intervention should not cater to the greed of man to control the ‘destiny’ by devising ‘purpose’ in what seems a spontaneous process of experiencing ‘time’, that is being ‘alive’.
But the other argument could be against the assessment itself. Isn’t technology itself a spontaneous outcome from human ‘living’ as well. Then we allow it to happen till it happens and then let ‘post-priori’ interventions be spontaneous too.