The Digital Universe
How often do you use electronics? If you are like most people, then you probably use them everyday, maybe every hour! You might not even think about the fact that you are looking at a TV or checking the weather on your phone. Our culture is so integrated with technology that we can hardly do anything without coming in contact with it. Though there are many advantages in having these recourses, could there also be negative side effects?
Technology has advanced our world in many ways. In fact, if they were taken away, I don’t believe we would know how to function. Smartphones give use open access to all the information in the world and can store our personal files as well. Smart watches can help people with health problems regulate their own heart rate and blood pressure. Families separated by distance are only a phone call or text away. Boredom is a thing of the past with TV shows and YouTube accessible on any device. Perhaps one of the most important advantages, however, is the ability to call for help in an emergency. Three simple numbers can bring medical help, fire fighters, or an armed protector in minutes.
Even with all these amazing innovations, there are definite disadvantages surrounding technology. Candice Sathiraboot said, “Thirty percent of adults spend more than nine hours a day using a digital device of some kind: smartphone, TV, computer, and tablets.” Although some of that time might be due to work, a substantial percent of it is spent laying in front of a TV sitcom or watching cat videos. The amount of wasted time is startling. Think of what people could accomplish if they didn’t have these distractions.
The time spent on technology at work, while necessary, is very harmful. So much time is spent staring at a screen. This has severely negative impacts on your eyes. “Excessive exposure to electronic screens can cause reduced blinking and digital eye strain. Cumulative and constant exposure to lights on digital screens can damage your retinal cells and lead to long-term vision problems,” Sathiraboot stated. Not only can this effect your physical health, but also your mental stress levels. Greenfield, a professor of psychology and director of the UCLA Children’s Digital Media Center, commented on the high expectations in the work place. “It used to be if you answered a letter in two weeks, you were doing fine. Now if you don’t answer in a few hours, people think you’re not responsive.” This pressure to always be available and quick to reply is an unnoticed weight upon our shoulders. It affects our family and social lives as well. Time with your children is interrupted by a call from your employer. You skip that dinner because the customer needs the project by tomorrow.
If this stress is not enough to keep you up at night, then your phone will take care of that. I am sure you can attest to this. You might get into bed around 11pm, but if you are like the average human being, you probably look at your phone for at least an hour. As UCLA Chancellor Gene Block put it, “Perhaps the most dramatic impact (from devices) is the reduction in sleep.” Not only is the lack of sleep from the act of looking at your phone, it is from the affect your phone has on your body. The light your smart phone admits when it is on alters a hormone in your body called melatonin. Melatonin is the chemical in your body that tells you to sleep. The light from your phone reduces the hormone and makes you feel wide awake.
Two other hormones are off set by the light from your phone are leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is a chemical that makes you feel full after a meal. It tells your brain that you have eaten enough food to keep you going. Ghrelin, on the other hand, tells your brain that you are hungry and need to eat more food. When undisturbed, your body will regulate your food intake. However, the light from you phone reduces the amount of leptin and increases the ghrelin in your system. The problem with this should be obvious. You will not feel full and will instead feel hungry. Therefore, looking at your phone or laptop for too long will literally make you fat, not just from sitting, but from the chemical imbalance that tells you that you need more food.
These are some of the physical results of technology, but there are also several mental consequences. The main problem stems from social media. Though it is a great way to stay in contact with friends and family, being too involved with the Internet life can be mentally taxing. The first problem is comparing. When you see people who seem to have perfect lives based on their posts on Instagram, Facebook, or Snap Chat, it makes our lives look very boring, difficult, and dismal. Why can I go to the Bahamas and Florida in the same month too? Why can’t I have a perfect boyfriend or girlfriend? Why can’t I have the huge house and brand new computers? Why can’t I have perfect skin and silky hair? We see these things on our feed and we think that since it looks perfect, it must be. The second problem is tweens, teens, or even adults feeling left out. You might be sitting at home in your sweats and scrolling on your phone when you come across a picture of your close friends who are at the movies together and they didn’t invite you. Suddenly, your night seems ruined knowing that while you are home by yourself, your friends are having an amazing time together. As Dawn Berkelaar said, “Social media can leave us feeling insecure, inadequate, and even depressed.” This is especially true of teens. The pain from feeling unwanted or feeling that your life is a disaster compare to other can cause clinical depression. The third problem with social media is the open access to all kinds information. Porn addictions usually start when an individual stumbles across an inappropriate picture or account. Soon it becomes a habit, then a full force addiction. This not only damages the person mind, but it can cause marriages and relationships to fail.
Social media and texting, despite all their flaws, are quickly becoming the main forms of communication in our society. The up and coming generation is so use to talking by text that many people don’t even know how to place a phone call or start up a casual conversation. The ability to read people without the need to speak is rare in youth. Greenfield recapped a study done by UCLA where sixth grades were sent to a camp with no electronics. “In just five days, the sixth grades ability to read emotions from non-verbal cues had increased significantly at the camp that focused on face-to-face interaction.” Face-to-face conversations are also very important when bonding with friends. In another recent study, college students said that they felt closer to their friends when they could talk in person, rather than over a device.
We now know these problems exist, but what do we do about them? There is no way to completely avoid technology; the world literally runs on it. We can, however, be smart about the way we use our phones and computers. Taking social media off phones is a good first step. If your Instagram page is only on your laptop, you will not have access to it during most of the day, and will avoid mindless scrolling. Setting up restrictions for inappropriate content and all together being cautious about what you are looking at online. For students, it is often helpful to put the phone away while studying and have special ringers set up for people who would need responses, like your mom. If your job involves staring at a screen, make sure you take short breaks to look at something besides your computer. Even though it sounds crazy, remind yourself to blink. If your eyes feel strained, look into getting computer glasses that will filter out some of the light. At night, make sure your phone is away at least an hour before you get into bed. Don’t keep it in your bedroom where it could be a temptation. Try an old fashion book or catch up on some magazines.
The world is full of technology that affects us every day of our lives. It is not a horrible evil that should be avoided at all costs. In fact, it is truly a wonderful invention that we are lucky to have. We simply must be responsible in the way we choose to use this resource. Like anything, too much is never good. We need to have a healthy balance. You control the device, it should never control you.
inallthing.org/christian-wisdom-on-technology-use-and-parenting/
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