What We Have Here Is...A Failure To Let It Sink In?

Yesterday, your illustrious (and humble, apparently) DotLoop blog writer pontificated on how technology has made our environments (all types) better places overall.

I felt good about how technology has improved our everyday lives--making everything from paying bills to communicating with your friend halfway across the world easier and more convenient. Indeed, DotLoop was founded on the principles of helping people get more done so that they have more time for themselves.

Kids Will Be...Kids?

But then today, I found this article in my newspaper, and I got to thinking about the darker side of technology. Not the sci-fi Skynet world of post-apocalyptic man vs. machine warfare, but the real, somewhat crippling effects of the here and now brought on by too much tech.

Now, I myself am not a parent, and I'll leave it to the comments discussion to wrangle out an answer to whether or not kids are too dependent on their tweets, but it does make me question whether this idea of constant connection has done some (or even more?) harm than good. Parenting is (seemingly) hard enough in any age, but it seems there's a whole new onslaught of concerns no one ever imagined even a decade ago.

Empathize or Desensitized?

I think I'll keep this post a bit short, if only to let the discussion be the focus. But the question has to be asked: is too much technology a bad thing? And not just for teens, but for all of us?

If the recent earthquake in Haiti has taught us anything, it shows how powerful constant connection is and how, like any tool, the Internet can be used for good. Donation buttons are available on almost every site (but be careful who you donate to), which obviously is a good thing. Technology has allowed us to open our hearts in a way never before possible.

But a part of me worries about how our collective gnat-like attention span will aid Haiti in the long run. By March, will people care, or will they be so saturated with non-stop news that yet another news story about Haiti will illicit nothing more than a "meh" reaction?

Not too long ago, the big story was about a tsunami that struck Asia the day after Christmas. And when's the last time you donated to that cause? 2005? In the Age of the Internet, 2005 was a lifetime ago. Is our constant attention deficit causing us to forget tragedy too soon?

I've made it a point not to look at pictures of the Haitian earthquake for the same reason I've never watched Schindler's List. A part of it is because I don't have a high threshold for gore. But mostly, it's because I never want to get so desensitized at seeing such devastation that my reaction is "meh".

Maybe the only way we can truly stay connected is by disconnecting ourselves and let it seep in.

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