It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
– Jiddu Krishnamurti
Imagine you’re 16-years-old and handed keys to a Ferrari…
At a time when one’s maturity and skill set dictates driving a large box on wheels with padded bumpers, you’re given the option of a highly engineered, sleek vehicle that reaches maximum speeds in minimal time. Who wouldn’t want the chance to drive that Ferrari without restraints! But, would that really be wise?
Our technological advances versus our maturity and skill set look a lot like that teenager with a Ferrari scenario. No doubt advances in technology have a vital and irreplaceable value in our world: we’re more connected and capable of collaboration, we’re able to offer intellectual and innovative value to so many, and we’re in a position to mobilize global movements to create shifts.
But have we come too far too fast?
For most of us, it can be hard to keep up with the shortcuts for using our devices; options are often too numerous to skillfully navigate. More importantly though, all this connection is happening at a time when human beings have never been more isolated.
We’ve become much better at making icontact than eye contact. Our technology has replaced intimacy in our lives with status. Instead of having a small circle of friends who we know deeply and can rely on, we fill Facebook and Instagram with false pretenses and then send them out to hundreds or even thousands of people with the expectation of public validation through a “Like.”
How long does that momentary validation last for you? I would bet not long enough to make the energy exerted worth it. Studies show that we’re really only capable of meaningful connection with a maximum circle of 150 people. How many friends do you have on Facebook? Twitter? And how many of them do you really know intimately?
Herein lies the technological breakdown…
It’s never been easier to connect with each other and share information, and yet as a species, we’re lonelier than ever before. And there are consequences. Instead of feeling valued uniquely, we lash out in the form of cyber bullying or internalize the jealousy we feel when our lives don’t look as good on the screen as the perceived lives of others.
We lack the maturity to mindfully navigate the consequences of our actions in such a public forum and discern the best uses of our technology, despite how rapidly we make technological advances. Humanity is in the throes of adolescent emotional growth. Technology should empower our reality, not pull our energy away from what matters. Technological maturity is the discernment to know how best to utilize the power of connection for the healthiest outcome for everyone.
