Living in the Information Age

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Our devices make our lives easier, but that doesn’t always mean they make them better.


Sometimes I think we really take for granted what technology allows us to do. I’m living in Thailand at the moment, and I sometimes use taxis to get around. Once, I was in a taxi and the driver needed to check something on his phone (probably directions to where we were headed). He spoke into his phone in Thai, and his speech was converted to Thai script on his screen. Text-to-speech has been common place for a while, but thinking about the fact that the driver’s phone was able to process Thai blew me away, as Thai is a character-based language.

The internet has made our lives easier in so many ways. Google Translate has helped me overcome the challenging language barrier in Thailand. Information that would have taken a trip to a good library to acquire can now be found with a simple online search. We can communicate with anyone across the globe as long as we have a stable internet connection or mobile data.

Yeah, all these things are great, but I feel that the process of innovation and technological development has resulted in the stagnation or decline of essential human attributes. Take communication for instance. When writing, the use of good grammar is slowly becoming the exception, not the norm. Interpersonal relations? Lots of people find it impossible to sit at a meal without pulling out their phone to check something, even if they’re with other people.

Sometimes I ask myself: could we really go without our devices, for say, a week? Would the world survive an internet blackout? Probably not. Many global infrastructures are built around the internet, yes; but I feel that to some extent, many of us can allow our devices to control us. Let’s be real, if we only used them for essential tasks, we wouldn’t spend nearly as much time on them as we do. We don’t really need to check our social media first thing in the morning everyday.

No, I’m not suggesting we go back to living as if we were in the Stone Age. Tablets (the tech kind, not stone ones-) are great. Laptops are awesome. I wouldn’t be able to share this blog with you without the internet; without technology. But we should all take time to remember that we’re physical beings, not digital ones. Let’s challenge ourselves. Switch off your computer and pick up a book or instrument. If you’re outside, put your phone down and try and live in the moment. Talk to someone in-person instead of online. Technology was made for humans, not the other way around.





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