“All of the biggest technological inventions created by man- the airplane, the automobile, the computer- says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness” – Mark Kennedy
2020 is a bewildering place, the proximity between man and machine has never been so intimate.
Advancements in technology are forging new ideas, businesses and behaviours; which are, as we are often told, having profound impacts on society, politics and the economy.
However, perhaps more immediately visible to all of us- yet somehow mentioned less- is the impact technology is having on our mental health.
This is far from surprising, the ubiquity of tech-based advancements can be felt in all areas of life, from taking over the way we use banks, to the way we farm and manufacture. It is thus hardly unexpected that our mental health should also become susceptible to silicon’s ungainly touch.
The primary influence of technology in this respect is, as noted by Mark Kennedy, that most inventions have been successful as they give us an easy alternative. This in effect changes our mind-set towards certain behaviours. The implications of this being that there is a trade off between inherent human behaviour and adapted human behaviour; with technology leading us to make adaptions away from our inherent behaviour.
Let’s consider this further.
Technology has replaced many of our normal means of communication. Social media has changed the way the world interconnects as well as the way in which many people gather information including news and current affairs. Ofcom reported in 2019 that half of UK adults rely on social media to gain access to current affairs and the news. Put simply: social media is our ‘go to’ communicative tool. Admittedly, there are many benefits to this, such as instant communication and networking, however, too many aspects of social media are causing damages to mental health.
Perhaps most critically, Social media has unintentionally altered human behaviour to subconsciously desire instant gratification and instant responses from those connected to them.
When this gratification is not received it can cause anxiety and loneliness, ultimately damaging people’s mental health. This gratification, according to Harvard Professor Trevor Haynes, is channelled through a dopamine hit; and, when this hit is deprived, or not as high a quantity as expected, the drop in ‘dopamine’ causes unhappiness.
A number of platform providers have sought to alleviate this effect. For example Instagram has made several attempts to challenge this, preventing people from seeing the number of likes a post receives in an attempt to remove some of these pressures.
Nonetheless, gratification remains a strong desire and there is a long way to go in finding a solution to these problems. Indeed, many of the problems that we see with tech-based advancements stem from the pace at which human behaviour is changed. The speed of escalation is too quick for human adaptation and so the consequences are more intensified. This will continue to be a challenge in finding a remedy.
Social media’s negative effects are also starting to influence our physical interactions. Mary Aiken’s book The Cyber Effect, examines the impact of technology and behaviour; specifically, she claims that due to us constantly checking technology and other devices this has reduced the amount of eye contact we experience with one another.
This can have negative effects for many reasons but most significantly between parents or guardians and children. Eye contact has always been a powerful element of human interaction. Thus a lack of eye contact can change the way in which humans bond and connect.
Furthermore, the rise of robotics and autonomous agents could further threaten our interactive capacity. In the past robots have not had a significant impact on social behaviour, however this is becoming more likely as robotics advance. There are basic human social practises such as love, friendship and other interactions that have developed over many years. These behaviours are seen throughout human kind regardless of a human’s exposure to technology. However, the prospect of robots replacing humans, from factory automation to synthetic lovers, is rapidly becoming more of a reality and could threaten these fundamental behaviours; or even channel them in such a way that we do not display them to each other.
It is hard to foresee the future impact robots will have. Although the potential they have to affect mental health will likely be similar, with increases in loneliness and a further reduction in our capacity to interact with one another to be expected.
Our mental health is the lens through which we experience life. Ultimately, there is a lot more to understand about how human behaviour is changing as a result of technology and the effects this is having on mental health. What is clear is that moving forward this must be more of a priority.
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