I have a feeling that this post will require more than one visit to the keyboard.

Sorry this is rather a long-winded post.

As technology is influencing every aspect of living the problem is where to start.

I am at this very minute using technology that is advancing at such a rate it seems to have control over our lives. So let’s start by saying that I am not against Technology but I don’t want to end up with my Fridge controlling my Life. (Previous Post on Technology)

In this post I want to look at the effects of Technology on Society in general. The impact of technology on human behavior.

As the barriers to information come down, we are all already living longer, eating, drinking, going about our business differently with totally complacency as to the effects it is having or will have on our lives.

The impact of technology on society is deep. It is both positive and negative.

Is it now the principal driving force of society, determining societies mode of operation?  I would not say yes, however we are fast coming to the point of no return.  We need to protect ourselves from its negative and predatory influences before it’s too late.

The meanings assigned to technologies are determined by the norms and values of social groups which draw on the “wider context” of sociocultural and political environment.

The heterogeneous and hierarchical community of technological development functions as a mediator of social values and forces value orientation in society to change. They bring new technological constructs or their complete generation to life.

For example;

Capital mobility has increased incredibly, the economy has shifted to the service sector, innovation has become the primary source of productivity growth in relation to engineering, organizations, institutions as well as individual workers. The “technical construction of society” has become a major issue, that is social processes are mainly mediated by technological development.

The nature of economic competition has been undergoing huge changes, as more and more people think that there have been profound changes in the relation between economy and society and innovation requirements.

People start moving on a different time scale, time has been speeded up. Space has become globalized, by turning into more unified and more complex at the same time. The society’s level of being informed, with exploiting the opportunities provided by information and communication technology, has been increased dramatically.

Socio-economic processes create new virtual spaces or even real spaces are modified: the processes are arranged in new ways in the interacting local, regional, national and supranational spaces. While integration processes are considered to be a general tendency, clear attempts for isolation also appear repeatedly.

Knowledge has become the main economic source, and learning abilities and skills have become a criterion of adaptation at the levels of individuals, companies, local communities, nations, supranational organizations and the world taken as a global system.

As the internet dissolves national borders how will we help indigenous cultures co-exist with an increasingly homogenous global culture?

The internet is stripping the world of privacy. More and more people store personal information on the internet, how will we ensure that information is kept secret?

It is causing massive changes to;

Social/Isolation/Social Skills/Obesity/Depression/Sleep Habits/E Waste/Cyber-bullying/Deceit/Reality/Stress/Social Boundaries/Sexual Boundaries/Social Bonds/Distraction/Attention Span /Addiction/Lack of Empathy/Violence/Energy Consumption/Neurosis.

People fail to realize that technology is the root cause of many of our modern troubles;

The current financial crisis might not of happened but for Technology. Internet gambling has become an addiction for many. Uncontrolled Porn is debasing us all. The development of smart weapons.

I believe that people have too readily embraced technology, seeking only the benefits, and ignoring the many downfalls.

The excessive use of machines in every field can result in an under-utilization of human brains. Over time, we may even lose our intellectual abilities. You know of the declining mathematical abilities in children due to use of calculators since school, don’t you?

Where is the digital divide going to take us? How is our ‘tomorrow’ going to be?

It has made life easy, but so easy that it may lose its charm one day. One can cherish an accomplishment only if it comes after effort. But everything has become so easily available due to technology that it has lost its value. There is a certain kind of enjoyment in achieving things after striving for them. But with everything a few clicks away, there is no striving, there’s only striking. With the developments in technology, we may be able to enjoy all the pricey luxuries in life but at the cost of losing its priceless joys.

If you read Google’s privacy policy carefully, it is clear that they retain the right to make significant decisions about our data without regard for our interests.

Nearly everything is being assimilated into technology Google Earth documented the entire map of the Earth; taxes, email, chatting, shopping, and work can be done over the internet; you can read on your Kindle; you can make home-made movies on Windows Movie Maker; and hundreds of other such ways.

According to a new creed, technologists are turning ourselves, the planet, our species, everything, into computer peripherals attached to the great computing clouds.

The news is no longer about us but about the big new computational product that is greater than us.

Is constant contact with the world really a good thing?

The continuous and self accelerating innovation processes characterized by the intense competition has brought about some changes in time relations.

If you are always in contact, there will be a decreasing amount of time to devote to yourself, and others will shape your opinions more and more.

The question is whether the hyper-connected life is taking us where we want to go.

It is it possible for technology to have value without facilitating a human goal?

We live more in our heads than any society has at any time in history, and for some the only reality is the one inside their heads.

By 2020 it will enabled the sending of messages via wireless headsets and visors”virtual telepathy”

At present, it is used largely for profit of individual or corporate gain.

It is used for short-term, monetary expediency, with little thought to the long-term survival of the human and other species on this planet.

Our present method of operations has become like a cancer, devouring its host.  It just cannot continue for much longer.

When we become habituated to the amazing technological achievements of recent years, we forget to be thrilled and amazed. We lose that great sense of wonder, of awe. We take brilliance for granted and so we ignore the human elements of fortitude, creativity, and intelligence” (Vaidnyanathan, 51-52).

When you stare at a screen too long, and it feels like your mind stops “Thinking.” You are socially and psychologically cut off from your fellow citizens.

You can see evidence everywhere.

It has become incredibly easy with the rise of the internet to become popular just by making the biggest impression. Being the funniest, cruelest, the one with the saddest story are all similar ways of becoming an internet phenomenon.

It is even reflected in popular culture, where being the fastest rapper or wearing the sexiest fashions all makes the headlines. These are all the same; they are shallow. You really do not have to work hard at being sexy, or rapping, or even having a sad story.

This generation leans on technology to serve their pleasures, and claim to be successful, or at least act like it. The internet is leading to a decline in “normal” social behaviors.

The news is a great example: Presented without any indebted analyst.  You see or read an interesting story, think about it for a second, and then you brush it over your shoulder, without any critical thinking, or wondering how it will affect your life.

So should we be concerned that an informational inequality often exists between governments and citizens.  More and more governments are using information and communication technology especially Internet or web-based network, to provide services between government agencies and citizens, businesses, employees and other  nongovernmental agencies.

Government activities that take place over electronic communications among all levels of government, citizens, and the business community, including: acquiring
and providing products and services; placing and receiving orders; providing and obtaining information; and completing financial transactions.

E Government is becoming an integrated tool of Governance – comprising three enabling sets of new technology: infrastructure, solutions and the exploitation of public portals.

Is E-governance beyond the scope of e-government?

Can Smart government equal smart governance resulting in Trans formative government, lean government, cloud computing, open government data, participation governance, digital divide, universal and mobile access, trust, security, identity, interoperability, and social media among others.

It might create a digital divide between those with ready access to electronic media and those without. It is changing the way people and businesses interact with government.

One of the most important aspects of e-government is how it brings citizens and businesses closer to their governments. An e-government infrastructure enabling the implementation of specific applications to address specific problems and issues of government management.

So when providing Internet access and email services in public portals, the most positive impact will come from the solutions and services that can be accessed from the exploitation of public portals with these communication tools.

Most recently we have seen agreements established between the U.S. and the EU on the transfer of personal data of airline passengers well beyond the scope of reasonable requirements.

Data retention, National Identification systems, e-government and joined-up databases, among other risks to privacy. What is the meaning of “identity”; the implications of turning several identities into one (without questioning consequences); what are the different scenarios and contexts for identification? This is changing the way information enters and flows around the system of government, introducing new—and sometimes uncontrollable—influences into decision-making

If we truly want to be successful we need to engineer the machines. ‘Machines replacing human beings’ does not portray a rosy picture, does it?

Overexposure to the Internet has taken its toll. In this virtual world, you can be who you are not, you can be virtually living even after you die. Isn’t this weird?

How can we prevent the invention of new purposes? That are often based on flawed assumptions, including dangerous ones.

In the current climate of fight against terrorism and cyber crime this imbalance is currently shifting towards greater government control over citizen data.

Is IT  a good thing’ for government?

Consequences and implications for e-government from wide-ranging surveillance and spying of digital communication. Ignoring the evidence about downsides to technology and ignoring the evidence of the widespread costs of failure of e ­government about how one should gather data about the world in e­ government as elsewhere – has always been about self ­promotion as much as promotion of knowledge.

Virtually unknown a decade ago impacts associated with e­ government, cost­saving and improvements in public service quality.  computers in the public sector cause job losses

It can lead to serious issues like unemployment and crime.

 

These days, smartphones don’t just make calls, they’re an electronic extension of our lives.

 

 

Have you ever stopped to think about how many people use the Internet in this world? The answers are astounding.

• One-third of the entire global popular uses the Internet every day.
• There are more tweets sent every second than the amount of breaths you take in an hour.
• $116,220 worth of iPhone apps are downloaded each hour. That’s not even considered Android or others!
• 98 years worth of digital video are uploaded to YouTube every day.
• We spend more hours each day on devices than sleeping.

These technologies have completely redefined how companies carry out their most essential activities.

– 91% of employers screen prospective employees through social media

– 76% of employers screen prospective employees through Facebook

– 53% of employers screen prospective employees through Twitter

– 48% of employers screen prospective employees through LinkedIn

No matter what type of advancement we make, we’ll always have something to complain about and I can hear a lot of you saying I am just another nerd doing exactly that.

There is no doubt that we need technology but we must guard against technology that does not need us. I cannot imagine a single technology that only has upsides.