Fear of the unknown. This is not a new concept, not by a long shot. The difference now is that we have tools and resources like never before to help us account for as much unknown as possible. Don’t know how much you move around? For sure, you can get your step count from your health app.. Worried about lack of sleep? There’s a whole industry of tools and programs to sort you out there. Don’t know where your kids are? Set up Family tracking to determine their exact location. Afraid of the dark? EVERY phone has a flashlight now, so light up your life that way. It’s the fear of the unknown that keeps us coming back to technology. Time and time again, technology has proven to give us solutions (if only temporary) for some of our biggest problems. I’m not complaining here, I think that it’s a good thing. I’m just recognizing that trying to detach yourself from technology can be tricky, simply because it is so ingrained in our society. We use technology to solve all of our “What if?” questions.
1) Everyone is connected, like it or not – It’s hard to deny the connection that we all have to technology. No matter the level, we all use technology every day. From the gardener using their trowel to plant a new set of roses to the IT technician using a tablet in their server room to diagnose a network slowdown, we all use technology. The trick isn’t knowing if you use technology, it’s knowing how you use it and the best ways to use it safely. Because so much technology is available to keep us healthy and safe, it’s entirely understandable how people can become dependent on that technology. I know that for a while there I was. It was important for me to have that data, but at some point, I found that all the data I was getting was starting to overwhelm me. For example, sometimes I feel tired, then look at my sleep-tracking app and say, “Oh yeah, nope, I didn’t get a good night’s sleep.” Unfortunately, it can easily turn to “Oh, my sleep app noticed that I only got 7.34 hours of sleep instead of my standard 8.5…does this mean I’m going to have a worse day?” I do tend to get into my own head when there is too much data, which is when I started to embrace the policy of moderation.
2) It’s all about moderation – I remember a few years ago, my wife and I had to buy a new toaster. Now, my wife isn’t as into tech as I am. She uses it and likes it, etc., but she’s not an “IT person.” That’s what she keeps me around for. When we were looking at options, she tried to get me more interested by talking up the technological features of certain toasters. I’m not kidding. There were some that could tell you the weather, some you could log into your social media feeds, and even one that had an accompanying app that would tell you when your toast was done. At the end, I ended up having to say, “Look, babe, I just want a toaster that…you know….makes toast!” I fully recognize that with the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), we can add more and more functionality to more things, but there is a degree to which you have to ask yourself, “Why is that needed?” Yes, it’s cool and convenient on occasion, but is it really necessary? Technology is there to serve us, but if a device’s core function gets disrupted by all the extra gobildi-goop piled on top, then the core function gets lost. I recognize that smartphones do WAAAAAAY more than phones used to, but whether by actual Phone, texting, or e-mail, their core function is still communication.
3) There is no shame in using technology – I genuinely don’t understand the trend of people who are walking away from their tech. I have seen some famous people speaking on talk shows about how they are down to “just an email address” or “text only” or whatever, and it’s seen as cool. I don’t understand that. Firstly, being “out of communication” for a short period of time is fine, but if you go from being accessible to the ones you love to being inaccessible, it is difficult for the people around you. Going back to moderation, allowing yourself a moderate amount of accessibility is key. Tech gets a bad wrap because people have tended to overuse it to solve all their problems. The problem is that whenever technology is blamed for something, it’s because someone is misusing or overusing it. Balance is the real trick. I totally get that people want to use technology to solve all of our problems. I mean, I AM in the industry, using technology to solve problems is sort of what I do for a living. What I have come to realize is that technology doesn’t “solve Problems”; It allows us to do certain things that we wouldn’t be able to do without it.
Fearing the unknown is natural. What you don’t know can be scary. It would be easy to shy away from technology, keep it at arm’s length, and avoid using it as much as possible. We cannot, however, do this. Technology has permeated nearly every aspect of our society, and it is impossible to ignore. What you can do is get reasonably educated on how to use the technology that you do use, and make sure you’re using it safely. Once you know how to use your technology effectively, well, it won’t be unknown to you anymore, will it?
How do you use your tech?
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