Introduction
For the past 25 years, digital technologies have been swiftly changing the world in business, communications, and politics. Technology has been changing the way humans think, interact, and behave and these days more and more children are growing up accustomed to technology. Long exposure to technology can interfere with the dynamic of face to face relationships. Most people are now accustomed to communicating online, where they can say whatever they want, with little consequence and because of this, real-life communication has become more scarce, and we value it significantly less. People become more shy because they are used to communicating without seeing the other person’s reactions. In fact, people can get so used to digital …show more content…
However the virtual personality is just an act, a performance that is taken on as a result of being so immersed in technology, and may not accurately reflect one’s true personality. Immersing ourselves so much in technology is problematic because we can lose contact with the real world and become addicted to our online version of ourselves, which will reduce our sense of emotion, empathy, and ability to authentically communicate.
How We Should Be Using Technology
While digital technology is a useful tool to make life more efficient, it still has problems if it becomes addictive. Some people believe that the Internet is a panacea and use technology incessantly: “You can find plenty of people who will argue [...] that technology will save us from pretty much every problem on Earth, if only we would trust it" (Kingsnorth 1). The problem with this is that if we trust technology too much, it can consume us, and we will not live an authentic, human life. Instead, our lives would be …show more content…
On the Internet, users are separated by a veil of anonymity, allowing them to act however they want. In fact, most people behave as if they were a completely different person once they start communicating on the Internet. Cyberspace lets us craft a custom personality: "Cyberspace crafts a new nature of reality on our everyday life. It opens up an infinity of space in an eternity of light … On the other side of our data gloves, we become creatures of colored light in motion, pulsing with golden particles […] we will be, as in dreams, everything" (Stenger as quoted in Knight 126). Stenger is implying that by using digital communication, we are really crafting masks of who we really want to be. Stenger says infinity of space and eternity of light to refer to the boundless possible personalities one can have. In cyberspace you are free to be whoever you want, which is similar to lucid dreaming, which is implied by Stenger as well. Knight addresses choosing your personality in cyberspace as well, "In cyberspace we can conceive ourselves as pure mind, either without a body or with a body of our own choosing" (Knight 125). When Knight says we conceive ourselves as “pure mind”, he means that everything that is portrayed digitally, is filtered only through thoughts. When using the Internet we cannot
For the past 25 years, digital technologies have been swiftly changing the world in business, communications, and politics. Technology has been changing the way humans think, interact, and behave and these days more and more children are growing up accustomed to technology. Long exposure to technology can interfere with the dynamic of face to face relationships. Most people are now accustomed to communicating online, where they can say whatever they want, with little consequence and because of this, real-life communication has become more scarce, and we value it significantly less. People become more shy because they are used to communicating without seeing the other person’s reactions. In fact, people can get so used to digital …show more content…
However the virtual personality is just an act, a performance that is taken on as a result of being so immersed in technology, and may not accurately reflect one’s true personality. Immersing ourselves so much in technology is problematic because we can lose contact with the real world and become addicted to our online version of ourselves, which will reduce our sense of emotion, empathy, and ability to authentically communicate.
How We Should Be Using Technology
While digital technology is a useful tool to make life more efficient, it still has problems if it becomes addictive. Some people believe that the Internet is a panacea and use technology incessantly: “You can find plenty of people who will argue [...] that technology will save us from pretty much every problem on Earth, if only we would trust it" (Kingsnorth 1). The problem with this is that if we trust technology too much, it can consume us, and we will not live an authentic, human life. Instead, our lives would be …show more content…
On the Internet, users are separated by a veil of anonymity, allowing them to act however they want. In fact, most people behave as if they were a completely different person once they start communicating on the Internet. Cyberspace lets us craft a custom personality: "Cyberspace crafts a new nature of reality on our everyday life. It opens up an infinity of space in an eternity of light … On the other side of our data gloves, we become creatures of colored light in motion, pulsing with golden particles […] we will be, as in dreams, everything" (Stenger as quoted in Knight 126). Stenger is implying that by using digital communication, we are really crafting masks of who we really want to be. Stenger says infinity of space and eternity of light to refer to the boundless possible personalities one can have. In cyberspace you are free to be whoever you want, which is similar to lucid dreaming, which is implied by Stenger as well. Knight addresses choosing your personality in cyberspace as well, "In cyberspace we can conceive ourselves as pure mind, either without a body or with a body of our own choosing" (Knight 125). When Knight says we conceive ourselves as “pure mind”, he means that everything that is portrayed digitally, is filtered only through thoughts. When using the Internet we cannot