Technology taking over

[Ellieboolou33]

I know it seems like double standards as I'm using tech now to communicate, but I feel increasingly concerned about how our communication as a society is changing through technology. Sat in a pizza place today with my 2 girls (both under 10), everyone in there eating had phones out, not taking.

Homework is all online now and the only way to communicate with a teacher is online.

I am finding that when socialising with friends at some point the phones come out and not just to take a picture. Even watching a film with my husband he scrolls through his phone.

Is it just me? Are we turning into technology zombies and losing the art of conversation and seeing with our eyes.

I really worry about the future for my children, we seem to be losing the art of conversation as commutation.

YANBU. Have you seen the VR advert, where the neighbours are playing against one another? I don't know why, but I can invision a world where people just love living in that sort of digital existence, and I'm the odd one out because I just can't see the attraction

YANBU

Yabu, the same was said about TV and computers/ games consoles when they came out. Technology has been a lifeline during Covid.

I wonder how many people have read The Machine Stops.

It's the metaverse frightening me at the moment 😵‍💫 next level internet / tech - awful

There's a lot to be said in praise of technology as well. It kept many isolated people in touch with others during lockdown for instance. Everything in moderation.

In the 90s, the news published future predictions about teleworking, home shopping (groceries) and driverless cars (to an extent). These have all become real, so we got to get used to it.

The same can be said about people coming of age in the 60s and coming to terms with 90s tech.

They are now developments using robots to supervise people in nursing & retirement homes, how long before there will be robots instead of carers calling in people's homes? After tonight & ds having to go again because his dad was on the floor after falling off the toilet it doesn't sound such a bad idea, keep him safe & let ds have a life of his own.

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne
"I wonder how many people have read <a class="break-all" href="http://go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops" target="_blank">The Machine Stops."

I read this book about fifty years ago and I have never forgotten it.
At the time, it seemed like just another sci-fi story.

But my goodness! I have thought about it so much in recent times and how much technology rules and replaces human behaviour- it's quite sinister in so many ways.

It scares the life out of me tbh, a few weeks ago I saw a toddler in a buggy with a phone holder gadget fixed to the front of the buggy so they could watch the tablet. Since then I've become increasingly aware of how it seems to be overtaking everyday life.

Agree it has amazing aspects that have made life easier, but also where does it end, nothing ever seems enough, upgrade after upgrade, it all feels so disposable

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne I will have a read!

@sal1223

It's the metaverse frightening me at the moment 😵‍💫 next level internet / tech - awful

Me too! Scary if you stop to really think about it, my brother is in the tech industry and as much as he is a tech lover it's starting to scare him how much data and influence it is having on society (more so now he has just had a child)

The social dilemma documentary was quite eye opening

You’re not wrong. There was a discussion on Today Programme this morning about whether handwriting and letters are now obsolete. That would be a real shame.

@Neron

YANBU. Have you seen the VR advert, where the neighbours are playing against one another? I don't know why, but I can invision a world where people just love living in that sort of digital existence, and I'm the odd one out because I just can't see the attraction

I meet my mum in VR, and we play games together. We still regularly meet in person, and our VR sessions do not detract from that. They are in addition to meeting in person. You can interact by meeting someone for a coffee, and you can also interact by meeting someone in VR and exploring different worlds together.

YABU, it is just how things are now.
Saying that, I think it is rude to be on your phone when you are with someone else. I used to meet a friend on her lunch break, and it was basically 45 minutes of me watching her eat and chatting with other people on her phone.

Two of the things you mentioned are a good are a good thing. Homework, mine are in high school and online homework and timetables make it much easier for teachers and pupils to work and communicate if there's a problem with the homework. Speaking to teachers is much easier online. Parents evening etc is far easier esp when they reach highschool when you have 8 plus teachers to see in a crowded hall when some parents take much longer than there allocated time. Much better online you get 5 mins per teacher then it cuts you off to get on with the next parent or teacher.

YANBU

It's not the same as TV or books although both media changed human behaviour and culture on a vast scale.

www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/02/attention-span-focus-screens-apps-smartphones-social-media?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Digital media fucks with our ability to pay attention. Social media has the power to dial up and down human emotions so, we are to some extend, being controlled by what we see online.

The most important aspect of digital media that I'm very suspicious of is the way any new message alerts or short bits of info such as on WhatsApp or twitter release dopamine in our brain and we do get addicted to the feeling of this. Reading long books, academic research papers or simply interacting with our fellow humans in real-time cannot give us the same buzz and satisfaction as these digital notifications.

Anyone who isn't at least a bit sceptical about how every aspect of our lives is now lived out online, facilitated by a few select global companies.

It's all about instant gratification on a vast scale. Even 80 year olds who grew up in a completely different way can get hooked to social media (e.g. my dad who's 81 and spend all day every day on his iPad, Facebook with relatives and playing games). Imagine the effect of giving phone and tablet as a pacifier to babies that are just about able to sit up will have on their developing brains.

YANBU

YANBU. Now that so much is done through screens, we need as much screen-free face to face and down time as we can get. The brain needs rest from all that constant random information that you get from constantly checking your phone. Sadly it's even more difficult in the pandemic.

I general I don't think you're being unreasonable. I definitely spend too much time on my phone and have been working to fix that. I've mostly ditched Instagram and Facebook which has been nice.

Thankfully my friends and I never ever have our phones out when we meet which is nice. We could spend 6 hours together and nobody will be texting or scrolling.

Honestly though sometimes when I'm out at a cafe with DP we are on our phones. Sometimes it's because it's a chance to sit down and research a holiday together but other times we just want to sit in Costa and scroll our phones separately tbh. We work from home together in the same room so have spent 24/7 with each other for the last two years so talk plenty.

The most important aspect of digital media that I'm very suspicious of is the way any new message alerts or short bits of info such as on WhatsApp or twitter release dopamine in our brain and we do get addicted to the feeling of this.

An important aspect of reward centres in the brain is that frequent, intense activation of dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens desensitises both the receptors and the second-messenger pathways that mediate the actions of dopamine on target nerves. This means that behaviours that usually evoke reward responses (e.g. social activity) become less pleasurable and are displaced by the high-intensity stimulus (addictive activity: e.g. drinking, gambling, gaming, etc.).

Completely agree with the gist of your post and the point made above about decreasing attention span. I teach secondary and wen really academically bright, keen kids struggle to read anything longer than a few sentences, let alone a whole article or chapter. They can't extract key points from a longer piece. I'd it's not bullet pointed in exact wording to match the question they can't relate it. That said, your under 10s don't need their own phones or if they do, they don't need to have taken them out with you for lunch and they don't need them at the table. You say no, and start a conversation, a word game. Get them to do the word search or whatever that lots of restaurants have on the kids menus. You have to impose some balance.

There’s a JG Ballard short story about a future where digital communication had advanced to the point where no one ever left their home or came in actual physical contact with another human being. Everything was done on line, virtual wedding ceremonies, children conceived and grown artificially, everything. Scary stuff.