Techno lust must be curbed

  

Last year we had to downgrade our microwave. That’s right, downgrade. 

Our 20-year-old model stopped working and the only one that could fit into the same opening was a smaller, weaker microwave. 

Just think about that... After twenty years of technological advancement, microwaves have become less efficient: bigger (not inside, mind you) and less powerful. 

I’m thankful this isn’t a general trend. Imagine your next iPhone being an inch thicker with a smaller screen and slower processor. They could call it the iPhone XXL. 

Computer processing speeds double approximately every two years, a concept known as Moore’s law. This exponential growth allows us to have hand-held devices that are thousands of times more powerful than the computers that used to take up entire rooms in the 1940s. We now have watches where we can read emails, turn on appliances, and watch Netflix (I’m sure it’s coming). 

I once had a professor who frequently talked about his “techno lust” as if it were some modern-day sin. “I always want the newest electronic device,” he said, tongue panting like a dog. “I want it, I need it!” 

I, too, can become rather fixated on techno gadgets. Every couple years I need a fix with a new phone, laptop or something digital I can strap on to my body. 

But imagine for a moment that the rate of technological advance did slow down for a moment. Would we even notice? And might it have some advantages? 

Social media is a prime example of why our techno-addictions may need to be curbed. While Facebook helps us socialize, it also spreads misinformation and places undue pressure on our frail egos. Teenagers in particular are impacted by social pressures in digital space. As adults, time gets gobbled up texting, posting and raging – time that could be spent interacting with our kids (or watching TV... with our kids).  

Taking this a dark step further, there’s considerable concern over artificial intelligence and what will happen when these things become smarter than us. As we’ve seen in the Terminator movies, it only takes a small army of autonomous killer robots to wreck everything. 

Wars of the modern era are already being waged in cyberspace. While the public is largely unaware, these are dangerous and costly, threatening to disable everything from banking systems to entire power grids. 

Perhaps I should take some comfort in my new, feeble 900-Watt microwave that takes a good 30 seconds longer to warm up my food every single meal. Not only does it teach me patience, it gives me hope that technology may have limits. It’s only a glimmer, but the path forward is not entirely out of our control.  

There may be some benefit to unplugging ourselves from our devices for a few moments or even a few days (shudder), to take some time to consider how these things are affecting us. 

My daughter still recalls with fondness the evening we went without electricity seven years ago while visiting my parents. Out came the candles, the board games and the booze (hey, why not?) Since there was nothing else to do, we were forced to be communal. 

Those days before electricity, before the internet, and certainly before covid, we had to engage in far more face-to-face contact, forging relationships over and over again. During the pandemic, I’ve seen and experienced relationships break down where there has been a lack of in-person communication. At the same time, relationships have strengthened among those closest to me. 

Personal contact has its merits. While Zoom and other digital platforms may have saved us from complete isolation, technology on its own does little to improve our psychological well-being. 

Hey, even killer robots may one day need our love (shudder).