Technology is pretty cool, or at least it can be. Barely a few years ago, the prospect of contacting your granny on the other side of the world using FaceTime or Skype, and seeing the expression on her face as you chat, would have seemed like some kind of radical Sci-Fi vision of a distant future — somewhere with advanced spaceships on every street corner.
But while technology can be great, it can also be perilous. Research consistently finds that the people who are most active on social media are also more likely to be depressed and anxious. The trick seems to be that the technology itself causes perpetual critical self-analysis, status competitions, and uncertainty.
Keeping in mind findings like this, it’s not clear that all technology is just neutral. Some technology may be inherently beneficial, other technology may be inherently harmful. And for the truly neutral technologies — whether they’re good or bad will likely depend on the context of their use.
All this is to say, think carefully about the technology you bring into your life. Here are some questions to ask before investing in a new gadget.
Can it do something for you that you can’t realistically do any other way?
Certain technologies do things that you can quite easily do for yourself, without the technology, but do it in a more efficient, streamlined, or exciting way.
For example — a to-do list app like Microsoft To Do may well be useful, but it’s not fundamentally a world apart from you simply recording your own list on a piece of paper, or in a notebook.
Finding a good stalker radar gun for sale, however, does allow you to accurately measure the speed of your pitch in a baseball game, which no human observer can do without technology. In this case, the technology itself may enrich the experience, by allowing you to track your progress — or the progress of someone you’re training — on the field.
Does it risk hijacking your attention and making you easily manipulable?
Have you ever wondered why social media services like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, are so insanely addictive? If you’re anything like the average user of these platforms, you’ve likely found yourself wasting hours at a stretch on each of them.
The key lies in the fact that these services were intentionally designed to manipulate human psychology in certain ways, as recounted by Adam Alter in his book “Irresistible”.
Before committing to a new technology, ask yourself whether you’re setting yourself up for easy mental exploitation, or not.
Does the device add to those essential, uplifting life moments, or diminish them?
Convenience isn’t quite the same thing as meaning, or purpose, is it?
Consider, for example, the difference between a traditional charcoal or wood burning barbecue, and a gas-powered barbecue. The gas barbecue will be less fuss. It will cook faster. It won’t need as much tending.
But do you actually barbecue because of “convenience”, anyway? Probably not. Likely, you barbecue because having friends or family around, stoking the fire, and smelling the wood smoke, is a meaningful and pleasurable experience.
Certain technologies add to those essential, uplifting life moments. But others diminish from them — often due to their being too convenient and sterile.
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