Technology (including both computational and non-computational systems) has helped to bridge a global gap during an age of globalization. This bridge has allowed multitudes to learn about the world, and connect with others, in ways that were previously impossible. Traveling across the world by booking tickets and a hotel from one’s smartphone also allowed for fast, convenient and efficient completion of a desired task (traveling), which, unlike before, does not require a travel agent, thus making the task more streamlined. Online and mobile banking have also largely replaced the need to interact with a bank teller for monetary transactions, as have ATM machines, which save time, resources and overhead, while increasing task efficiency and efficacy.
The Internet has also provided a near unending source of resources, educational materials, and learning systems for people to learn or work from their own home, without interacting with anyone. This has seen an increase in digital nomad word/telecommuting, and distance learning education systems, translating into increased convenience for those on-the-go, but also often has the unintended consequence of students, workers, adults and children losing their social skills due to being increasingly isolated from others.
Additionally, for social interactions, people often meet friends or dates using apps, from the convenience and comfort of their own home. This is contrasted with a previous age of meeting friends and dates via day-to-day mingling outside of one’s own home. The downside to this is a possible prevalence of antisocial behavior and lack of social skill development, where, instead of meeting people in the outside world, some youth are only able to communicate by texting via messaging or dating apps.
Faster and Ease of Communication
Communication, transportation, and interactions with others are faster than ever before, with the advent of airplanes, trains, buses, cars, and computer/mobile messaging and social media apps. Not only are such complex tasks faster, they are often more efficient. In antiquity, it would have taken months, if not years, to travel from one end of the globe to another, or to even make contact with someone from the other side of the world. Today, those tasks can be completed in a day, or within minutes, making living in the modern world much easier and more efficient. For those with a busy lifestyle and for businesses, “time is money,” so saving time and increasing task efficiency is critical.
The Negative Effect
Technology has both eliminated a gap and created one. Virtual distance is the phenomenon where people are physically together but detached from each other due to being completely absorbed with their technological device, such as a laptop or smartphone/tablet (mobile device). This translates to couples, parents and children, and all types of other human interactions being relegated to the background while people are busy connecting with others in digital space via their technological device.
The End of Intimacy
It is not uncommon for people to prefer texting instead of actually meeting, or at the very least, calling and thus hearing another human voice. It is also not uncommon for people to walk around, or even sit with others, head bowed to their digital device without saying a word or even noticing anything about anyone else. Human interactions and relationships have thus largely decreased, while intimacy and human-to-human interactions have been replaced with human-to-machine interactions. Technology has helped to modify human behavior by creating a gap between people and reducing intimacy. In an age where robots and AI are slowly replacing humans within the workplace, this interaction between humans and machines is only set to increase.
