MOBILITY AND EFFICIENCY
We have experienced the growth and evolution of digital technology. From its introduction to civilian consumers to its consumption of civilian lives, our use of digital technology has become part of who we are and how we operate. It gives us the ability to edit and revise, assuring us that our creations will be “as-good-as-it-gets”. It enables us to hear whispers made at opposite ends of the earth. It gives us access to all kinds of information at the tip of our fingers. But what if, for a moment, we observe digital technology through a different lens. One that removes the “familiarity and comfort” which has disguised our ability to view digital technology as the primary influence of mankind’s promising evolution towards cybernetic organisms.
Let’s take for instance Apps; also known as, software applications designed to operate on smartphones, tablets, computers, and other mobile devices. Well… Remember floppy disks? After locking a floppy disk into place and a few simple keyboard stokes, you’d be immersed in Oregon Trail or Number Munchers for hours. From floppy disks to game-console cartridges, VHS tapes to blu-ray discs, the formats & devices have changed, but the principal remains the same. We download. We tap. We Play. So if the principal is the same, why does technology seem more prominently integrated in our lives now more than ever. The answer: Mobility and Efficiency. It seems obvious, but these characteristics, among others, hold a deep rooted origin in mankind’s progression.
This should raise question to the frequency and functional use of “overly-convenient” digital devices. If mobility and efficiency are underlying characteristics of human progression, then using these technologies for anything else would be anti-progressive. Mankind's progression is based on the evolution of purpose and betterment, and the technology to achieve those characteristics traditionally follow:
Technology (from Greek τέχνη, techne, "art, skill, cunning of hand"; and -λογία, -logia[1]) is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a pre-existing solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. (Source: From Wikipedia )
A modern trend honors technology as the primary influence of human capabilities and ideas, and in effect may compromise the evolution of human purpose. By enabling an intimate relationship with digital technology we grow too familiar with the functionality and method for operating within that relationship IE:
- Text messaging as a primary form of communication
- Online shopping with no physical engagement with products or retail spaces
- Automatic billing with no personal management of withdrawals and/or deposits
In effect, we redevelop an old society, where the way we engage in activities has evolved, but the basic principals have remained the same. Crowdsourcing, for example, is a type of fundraising brought to the online community where ideas are extended beyond their geographic origin, and offered to the entire world. The concept is not new, but the range of user engagement is. And so, our purpose is trapped, being inspired by technology to bring new life to old concepts . In this trend, technology is the leader and the primary influence. We become dependent on technology to inspire new capabilities. In order to truly move forward, we must fully adapt this technology as a basic element for human functionality. Then finally, we as a species will be able to holistically progress into the new paradigm of evolved purpose.