Over the years, technology has revolutionized our world and has changed our ways of living. For societies to evolve, technological innovations have become necessary. The use of technology has made our everyday lives easier, from communication and business software to machinery and transportation. The 21st century has been called the era of science and technology and data, especially with the new technology developments and advancements over the last few decades.
As technology keeps advancing, there are questions forming whether it has also affected our culture and even our physiological and psychological development. Although these questions have been around for a long time, studies and research are still ongoing and there is no scientific conclusion yet. According to Psychology Today, “There is still a little doubt that all of the new technologies, led by the Internet and digital technology, are shaping the way we think in ways obvious and subtle, deliberate and unintentional, and advantageous and detrimental.”
But according to one study, if we look closely at our history, it is evident that technology has a major role in the building and destruction of great civilizations and has a huge impact on global relations. Although this study has not been proven, it shows that there are areas in which technology affects our way of interacting and even our children’s brain development.
Decision-Making
Nowadays, we base our decisions and rely so much on the internet where we look for data and information. This hugely affects businesses, in the past, all business operators had to rely on their decision making from experiences, limited knowledge and instinct but today, thanks to the wonders of technology, decision-makers can have access to an enormous amount of data, making the process a lot easier and a little more efficient and accurate.
Relationship Building
Since the birth of social media, we start spending more time and time on it and have become so hooked with our smartphones, laptops, and tablets that we sometimes forget to interact with people around us. But at the same time, it has also built an easier way of communicating and connecting people that are miles apart. So does technology bring us closer together or further apart? The answer to the question will always vary in different situations, furthermore, there is still no evidence that online interactions are limiting face-to-face interactions.
With all these studies, many still believe that technology is being designed and built according to the values of people and not the other way around, that it is consciously created by choice. Since technology developed alongside us, it is developed and enhanced depending on the growing needs and different values of the human population.
Values and the principles we live by are equally complicated, they are formed from many different sources such as one’s parents, cultural context and experiences. Technological innovations do not seem to directly change human values but may provoke questions in our minds which then generate reflections that tend to question our existing values. So does technology really affect our values and way of thinking?
