Our Relationship with Technology

     In order to fully understand and define our relationship with technology, we must truly examine our relationships with other humans. The way human relationships have shifted over the last centuries, specifically the 21st, has been something that is studied and examined very closely by scientists and scholars, and is a topic that we discuss and experience in our everyday life (whether we know it or not.) 

    The relationship between humans have many different forms. From the relationship between friends, to the relationship between lovers, between brothers, between mother and son, etc. Yet, there has almost always been one thing in common with these relationships, the aspect of communication. There have been many forms of communication over the years, in which have all been used to form some sort of relationship between humans. Over the past few decades, as technology has advanced and developed as it has wormed its way into the workings of the relationships of every human. As we open our lives to technology more, the more we become dependent on them in our lives and our relationships, and the more we become dependent on them to keep our relationships afloat. 

    Technology affects relationships nowadays as it allows for communication to be made easier. Instead of going to a friends house to see if they're home, you can text them to hang out. Instead of seeing a professor during office hours, you can send them an email in a matter of seconds. Instead of solving your issues with your significant other in person, you can block them on all forms of social media and avoid them in person. See that last one caught you by surprise didn't it? That was just one of the forms of unhealthy communication between two humans in a relationship, that happens as a result of technology being involved. Although technology boosts relationships, and helps to keep them alive and well, there are an immense amount of negative effects and situations which come into play with the use of technology in a relationship. 

    As we examine the relationships between humans and technology, it is clearly quite evident that it is affected by the relationship we have with technology, as I previously displayed. The relationship we have with technology has quickly become a modern day form of the old saying "a wolf in sheep's clothing." Now don't get me wrong, technology is the greatest invention of all time, and it has helped us progress as a society and do things that were never thought to be possible. Without technology we would never have developed airplanes, or computers, or Bluetooth, video games or television. The reason I compare technology to the old saying, is because of how tricked we are into thinking our lives are perfect with the use of technology, and how much it actually negatively impacts our lives. Technology, specifically social media, leads us to believe that everything we see is the truth, whether its some ones life they are posting, or facts about politicians and the government. The truth is, technology has opened a whole other dimension of negative situations in our lives. Technology allows for people to speak very differently behind a screen, which leads to cyberbullying and harassment that cannot be controlled or stopped. While technology is easy to get rid of and social media is easy to delete, we have become so dependent and addicted to the feeling of satisfaction and validation we get from these devices and these apps. 

    Overall, our relationship with technology has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. While we wouldn't be where we are at in our lives or as a society without the impact of technology, there are still some deep and dark paths that we must go down to fully examine the effects that technology has on us, and our relationships with the REAL world.