The Robots Are Taking Over
No, no, I'm not talking about the computers and the AI, I'm talking about human robots. You know the ones, who can't look up from their phones and can't participate in society outside of a social media post.
Technology as a tool
Also, the people, like myself, use technology to escape troubles in their life and tend to have trouble logging back into the real world. Many people are frustrated with seeing the robots of the world and blame the technology. To some degree, that blame is correct. There are a lot of issues with how social media affects the brain, especially in adolescents. Technology addiction is a real and serious thing affecting our communication skills as a society. The simultaneous intimacy and separation that technology has afforded us breed some of the best and worst behavior humanity has to offer.
So we get rid of the technology, problem solved right? Not really. So one of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard was from I believe John Delaney's show on Dave Ramsey's channel. Trying to confirm it seems a popular sentiment among therapists, but that's where I heard it first. When you move, change jobs, leave a relationship, or start a new one, you take you with you. Technology is simply a tool. Some tools are worse than others *coughfacebookcough*, but in general a tool is a tool.
The "Good" in Technology
People have been murdered by someone swinging a hammer or a baseball bat, but that's not the fault of the hammer or the baseball bat. It's the person swinging them. If we remove the tools of technology, we remove the poorly designed tools like Facebook, but we also remove the extremely useful tools like email and networking and information sharing, and everything else we build our society around.
At the end of the day, removing the tech leaves behind us. When technology goes away we still have to deal with ourselves. When technology wasn't a thing back in history, people thought of sticking your nose in a book the same as sticking your face in your phone. The trick isn't removing the technology, but using the tools properly. Using a hammer to kill someone is bad for society, but hammers are really good at building things, creating houses for people, making furniture, etc.
Baseball bats can be used for harm, or they can be used to provide entertainment, give families a happy memory with hats and hotdogs, and have a fun day out. Sports provide a fun form of exercise and health and fitness for youth. The reason the robots are taking over is not because the phone exists, but because people are using that tool to escape real troubles in the world instead of fixing them.
The Need for Serious Discussion
People watch inspiring videos about careers, philanthropy, or anything else. Then they keep watching and keep watching, addicted to the feeling of hope and inspiration without acting on it. The world around us has problems, but escaping them with social media is a misuse of the tool. When you misuse a tool, people get hurt. There needs to be a serious discussion on using the technology we have in a way that improves society, improves mental health, and destroys the robots before they take over.
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