Recently I was watching a podcast titled, 'What is the path to Humane technology' by Tristan Harris in which he claimed that runaway technology is decreasing our ability to make sense of the world. According to him, it is because its complexity is beyond our ability to understand it. We are, according to E.O. Wilson, father of SocioBiology, human beings with, 'Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions [and] god-like technology.' Unfortunately, present-day technology is taking away from us our capacity for wisdom, and wisdom is the only key to closing the complex gap that exists between human beings and the technology they use. In the words of Daniel Schmachtenberger, "We can't have the power of gods without the wisdom, love and prudence of gods."
Technology has the ability to undermine human weaknesses and it also overwhelms human strength according to Tristan Harris. Technology has stretched our cognitive limits leading to information overload. It has stimulated Dopamine levels leading to human beings becoming addicted to it. Technology has enhanced our hunger for social validation leading to the creation of the influencer culture. It has fueled our outrage over petty things leading to the polarization of the society and the world at large. Technology has made us hunger for trust leading us to accept bots and deep fakes.
At a social level, technology has led to mass narcism leading to shortened attention spans, social isolation, break-down of sense-making, marginalization of groups, depression in teens, conspiracies, extremism, perceptions gaps and a general culture of distrust, suspicion, mass hysteria, and paranoia. We are living in an increasingly divided, fragmented and polarised world where we find an excuse to ostracise people who don't belong to the group based on religious, casteist, racist, linguistic, and ethnic parameters. Our existing technology is not humane or ethical and it has in a way driven a wedge between human beings robbing them of feelings of empathy, love, kindness, trust, and even spirituality. In a world that is driven by perceptions based on what we are fed by social media, it is not surprising that we have begun developing perception gaps. The more time we spend on social media the more incapable we are of appreciating the diversity of beliefs and opinions. We are not able to estimate and understand what other people believe, according to Tristan Harris.
Technology has led to a situation where extreme voices on social media have more impact than moderate voices. It is, perhaps why people with extreme views have more reach than the moderates. We have begun to gravitate towards extreme voices, perhaps because they stimulate us to action, stoke our anger and desire to address wrongs committed against us. This skewed perception of what is right and what is wrong, in terms of our desire for action or patience is leading to a sense of confusion in a world divided by the extreme voices demanding immediate action the moderate voices desirous of a patient approach towards addressing problems.
We are steadily being driven headlong into a chaotic situation where our ability to differentiate between what is real and what is fake is taking a hit. We would like to believe that what is being projected on a social media platform is the correct version of events taking place in a conflict zone. People deliberately use social media to present fake news, that too with manipulated images and videos, thanks to the possibilities provided by technology. Technology has made us gullible victims of fake news, paid news and biased news when is supported with evidence in the form of graphics, photographic images, and videos. The more violent the images, the more we are drawn to a particular news channel or even a social media site. It is so easy to whip up outrage against another community with the help of a few tweets or WhatsApp messages purportedly of violence and atrocities committed against another community.
There is an urgent need, according to Tristan Harris, to switch over to what might be labelled as good technology or even ethical technology or even humane technology. This can only happen if and when we shift over from the old paradigm of the neutrality of technology to a technology that consciously nurtures values, technology that gives us no choice to technology that helps people thrive, technology that has good and bad to technology that respects human vulnerabilities. The task before the human technologist is a difficult one.
The human technologist will have to recreate a technology that prevents harmful externalisation, encourages shared understanding, collaboration and healthy debates. The technology of tomorrow will help build bridges rather than divide communities. It cannot be neutral, therefore, it will have to support fairness and justice in mankind, it will have to help human beings work and grow together, model wisdom, respect for others, and be solutions-oriented. A more human and ethical technology would work towards creating a social fabric based on civic equity, participation, collaboration, and responsibility, the purpose being of developing a well-informed citizen, someone who is sensible, someone who supports the upliftment of marginalized communities. The true purpose of technology would be to further peaceful co-existence among all human beings, creating a culture of shared understanding in times of conflict.
There is a great need to develop technology that is sensitive to the vulnerabilities of human beings. If technology is a means to an end, then global peace should be its ultimate goal. We have been using technology for ages and our dependence on it has been increasing day by day. Unfortunately what had begun as a tool to make life easier has now become a weapon of oppression. The Ukraine-Russia conflict has encouraged the use of technology to inflict physical, mental and emotional trauma on each side. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki towards the end of the Second World War was traumatic enough. We use technology, today to divide people, we use it to inflict pain and suffering, and we use it to satisfy our nihilistic urges. We use it to dehumanize others. We use technology to impose our ideas on others. Technology has become a tool that promotes linguistic, social, cultural and economic chauvinism. It has become a tool in the hands of mainstream communities to subjugate, suppress and exploit the vulnerabilities of marginalized communities.
The above post is based on my understanding of a podcast by Tristan Harris, the link of which is given below:
https://www.technology-in-business.net/what-is-the-path-to-humane-technology-tristan-harris-sxsw-2022%ef%bf%bc/