Technology is only exposing us for who we really are

-A look to the future

Technology, or the mainstream perception of technology, is often demonised for drastically and negatively shifting public behaviour, depreciating attention spans, eroding genuine human interaction and even creating falsified goals of perfection. Often the media laments certain types of publicly accessible technology for bringing about the demise of mankind and sparking the rise of overbearing artificial intelligence.

The truth is, that’s not entirely true. Technology has never hampered us, only furthered us. Take the industrial revolution, the lightbulb, the aeroplane, the internet, all necessities of modern man. All likely lampooned in their day. The most potent threat to a developing society is the incessant poking from luddites who believe the dystopian visions sold to us through science fiction and Terminator, will come true. But they won’t. So stop scaring us.

In reality, social media is inherently anchored in essential human needs which have always existed, we’re only now seeing them exposed and intensified in the public eye. The likes of Facebook and Instagram, who certainly do use psychological hooks to increase interaction rates, are only utilising our desire to be liked, to be in conversation, to be social and to display a degree of serenity and perfection to those who don’t know us well. For instance, there’s no difference between meeting an acquaintance over a latte and painting an idealised version of your life, than sharing an idealised version of your life via a social media channel. There is no difference, it’s called being human.

It’s embedded in our nature to shield our own reality from those don’t fully trust. Think about it, you don’t expose your inner most troubles and thoughts with those on the peripherals of your social following; that information is protected only for those closest to you and behind closed doors. Social media has simply given us a platform to elevate our idealised self, for a chemical reward. But the upside is, we’re learning. We’re learning more about the psychological rewards and the more we learn about the brain, the better.

It’s important to feel positive about the future of technology, our vision is often blinded and disfigured by the dystopian projections pushed to us by programmes such as Black Mirror.

The most positive aspect of the current direction of consumer technology, is that many devices are allowing us to expose our mental data and my prediction for the next macro shift will be that mental standing is considered alongside athletic prowess or physical appearance, or academic accomplishment. The amount of psychological data that is captured enables us to build a reflective persona of an individuals mental state and behaviour, which is important for levelling the importance of mental health alongside general health.

This will almost certainly lead to a more prosperous and efficient world, where an individuals emotional intelligence is considered in the same bracket as more obvious facets of life.

We should be optimistic about the future, as we look to a society where equality reigns supreme, technology can only level the playing field.