Technology Addiction

[Lordieth]

As technology seems to play a bigger and bigger part in our lives as time goes on, are we becoming too over-reliant on technology to communicate with one another? Are we all just techno-junkies itching for that next faster, sleeker fix to satisfy our cravings for ever better entertainment?

Does technology improve our lives, or distract us from it?

I remember misplacing my mobile phone last year and nearly having a panic attack. Not a good sign, really.

[Conserative Morality]

The TV, phone, and internet went out at my grandparents house one day. All three of us were all bored out of our minds until it came back on.

You see, some of those who have adapted to technology (Like myself and my grandparents) rely on it to communicate entirely - not necessarily using it to communicate, but we need the possibility to use it. I normally play single-player games, for example, but when the internet went out, I didn't really feel like playing. My grandfather is normally a talker, but when the TV went out, my grandfather went almost completely silent. The only person who didn't suffer was my grandmother, because she was working on something on photoshop and was in her own little world at the time.

It only went out for two hours, but it seemed to drag on for a lifetime for all of us. We've adapted to saltwater, but God help us if we try to get back to freshwater.

Of course, I could do without my cell phone. I haven't really gotten used to it, and I probably never will. I don't use it enough.

[Tubbsalot]

No, technology is pretty much great and there are no problems whatsoever.

Also, since tech is part of our lives, it is literally impossible for it to distract us from our lives. It's mostly natural things which do that. Things like hallucinogens.

[1000 Cats]

Apart from its relevance to my occupation, I can live fine without technology. I used to need game systems and high-end PCs and fast internet connections and stuff, so I do understand those who are enamored with technology. But you know, it's a lot better not to be.

[Conserative Morality]

Apart from its relevance to my occupation, I can live fine without technology. I used to need game systems and high-end PCs and fast internet connections and stuff, so I do understand those who are enamored with technology. But you know, it's a lot better not to be.

I'm afraid freshwater is boring and lacks... Everything, really. I'll stay in the Saltwater, thank you very much.

[The Emerald Legion]

I'll stick with agreeing with CM.

No tech is boring.

Yes tech is not boring.

[Genivaria]

I'm a technophile.
I LOVE new tech. Especially research into renewable energy, and medical tech.

[The USOT]

Im a weird mix of a techno-addict and a nature freak...

I love technology and sometimes spend days on end on a computer playing some game or another (although I do have the occupational excuse )

However if I do not get enough time in nature or the countryside, I start to feel quite claustrophobic. I think its because where I grew up I was used to rolling flat planes and clear skies that seemed to go on endlessly, filled with beautifal sounds especially at night.

I love technology, but I feel more at home in nature.

[Conserative Morality]

Im a weird mix of a techno-addict and a nature freak...

I love technology and sometimes spend days on end on a computer playing some game or another (although I do have the occupational excuse )

However if I do not get enough time in nature or the countryside, I start to feel quite claustrophobic. I think its because where I grew up I was used to rolling flat planes and clear skies that seemed to go on endlessly, filled with beautifal sounds especially at night.

I love technology, but I feel more at home in nature.

Nothing wrong with striking a balance. I, personally, am not real fond of nature, but I understand why some people like it. I'm less understanding of people who dislike technology.

[Esternial]

Im a weird mix of a techno-addict and a nature freak...

I love technology and sometimes spend days on end on a computer playing some game or another (although I do have the occupational excuse )

However if I do not get enough time in nature or the countryside, I start to feel quite claustrophobic. I think its because where I grew up I was used to rolling flat planes and clear skies that seemed to go on endlessly, filled with beautifal sounds especially at night.

I love technology, but I feel more at home in nature.

I have a forest desktop background, so I guess that's kind of the same thing.

But in al seriousness, I recall those moments during summer when my window was open during the night and I could hear crickets chirping outside as the wind gently rustled through the leaves. It's not really that remarkable, but the most peaceful moments in my life are found in nature, so maybe that's why I'm so fond of it.

[The USOT]

Im a weird mix of a techno-addict and a nature freak...

I love technology and sometimes spend days on end on a computer playing some game or another (although I do have the occupational excuse )

However if I do not get enough time in nature or the countryside, I start to feel quite claustrophobic. I think its because where I grew up I was used to rolling flat planes and clear skies that seemed to go on endlessly, filled with beautifal sounds especially at night.

I love technology, but I feel more at home in nature.

Nothing wrong with striking a balance. I, personally, am not real fond of nature, but I understand why some people like it. I'm less understanding of people who dislike technology.

I can understand it... but then again I find ideologies different to my own more interesting... Anarcho-Primitivism I beleive certainly has some merit to it.

[Norstal]

I...can't...stop...the addiction!

*Grinds up a CD*

*Inhales shards of silicon dust*

[Esternial]

I...can't...stop...the addiction!

*Grinds up a CD*

*Inhales shards of silicon dust*

Oh, that's just a waste of potential improvised room decoration...

[Vetalia]

I generally use modern technology as an improved form of their predecessors; e.g. I could read a newspaper instead of read news online. That being said, it would be thoroughly unsatisfying to not have access to the sheer amount of information possible online...being limited to my WSJ or Plain Dealer without being able to pull up news sources would suck.

This is an interesting question because it also deals with the concept of happiness; although people in 1970 (or so) were similarly content with their lives as we are today, it's impossible that we would be as happy back then because of the influence of technology on our lives. Being able to call or email people from anywhere or browse sources the world over online is a huge benefit.

[Lordieth]

I just wonder if the happiness I think I gain from the use of technology in my life is just how I've been conditioned to rely on it, satisfying an addiction rather than creating any sort of long-term fulfillment.

I don't think happiness works that way. I think it normalises after a while, until the next exciting gadget comes along. Technology has enriched my life, but it hasn't made me happier. If you took that technology away from me now though, it'd devastate me.

Very symptomatic of addiction.

[Conserative Morality]

I just wonder if the happiness I think I gain from the use of technology in my life is just how I've been conditioned to rely on it, satisfying an addiction rather than creating any sort of long-term fulfillment.

I don't think happiness works that way. I think it normalises after a while, until the next exciting gadget comes along. Technology has enriched my life, but it hasn't made me happier. If you took away that technology away from me now though, it'd devastate me.

Very symptomatic of addiction.

I find that, uh, odd.

I use technology primarily to satisfy my urges as a social creature, to create and facilitate conversation IRL, to gather information, and to experience art.

I don't really get the whole "Oh, look, I've got an iPad, or an Alienware computer, or whatnot!", save for the fact that they do look very nice.

[Lordieth]

Well it's primarily being connected to information wherever I go that's become so integral to my life. Videogames I can live without, but being cut off from electronic communication makes me feel severely isolated.

[Conserative Morality]

Well it's primarily being connected to information wherever I go that's become so integral to my life. Videogames I can live without, but being cut off from electronic communication makes me feel severely isolated.

We're social animals, it's only natural. The internet in particular represents so much of human knowledge and human achievement at our very fingertips that the very knowledge of it's existence when we're cut off from it is frustrating, like knowing that your car is in the driveway but isn't running at the moment, or, for a more primitive example, knowing that there's a fresh carcass just across the stream, but it's too deep to ford.

We, as humans, don't like being denied potential for action.

[Zeppy]

I am addicted to technology.

I sniff technology like I sniff crack. Anally.

[Lordieth]

@Conserative Morality; I know what you mean. I guess we take for granted now how easy it is to access and share information.

I am addicted to technology.

I sniff technology like I sniff crack. Anally.

That's taking being 'plugged in' to a whole new level.

[Arkotania]

The TV, phone, and internet went out at my grandparents house one day. All three of us were all bored out of our minds until it came back on.

You see, some of those who have adapted to technology (Like myself and my grandparents) rely on it to communicate entirely - not necessarily using it to communicate, but we need the possibility to use it. I normally play single-player games, for example, but when the internet went out, I didn't really feel like playing. My grandfather is normally a talker, but when the TV went out, my grandfather went almost completely silent. The only person who didn't suffer was my grandmother, because she was working on something on photoshop and was in her own little world at the time.

It only went out for two hours, but it seemed to drag on for a lifetime for all of us. We've adapted to saltwater, but God help us if we try to get back to freshwater.

Of course, I could do without my cell phone. I haven't really gotten used to it, and I probably never will. I don't use it enough.

I could do without technology. I just need light and my books.

I know a kid though(friend of mine) who basically "mentally" disappears when he gets his phone taken away. He falls into this depression where he becomes lethargic. It's pretty damn funny in my opinion.

I used to be hooked to the PC but after a month of being away from one, I've become rehabilitated. I always forget i even have a phone. If we don't have internet, i simply play some strategy games or board games(maybe Chess with my father).

[Conserative Morality]

I could do without technology. I just need light and my books.

I know a kid though(friend of mine) who basically "mentally" disappears when he gets his phone taken away. He falls into this depression where he becomes lethargic. It's pretty damn funny in my opinion.

I used to be hooked to the PC but after a month of being away from one, I've become rehabilitated. I always forget i even have a phone. If we don't have internet, i simply play some strategy games or board games(maybe Chess with my father).

I burn through books too quickly. I'd need a library, or several, seeing as I've read everything of interest in the two local libraries here. Chess is entertaining for a game or two, but it lacks the sort of strategic consideration I'm used to.

The internet offers me everything I could ever want. Books, by the thousand, essays, studies, history, literary criticism, art, film, anything, everything. People to discuss them with, even.

I never got into cell phones, though.

[New England and The Maritimes]

Technology is important. It encompasses not just computers and cell phones and gizmo rockets, but everything we use for any purpose. Sticks with which we draw rudimentary plans in the sand, or provokes Termites into leaving the nest, into the open; rocks with which we(and many other animals,) crack mussel shells, or use as missile weapons; and, most importantly(and again not uniquely to us,) early flint knives, the basis for other more specialized tools.

That being said, technology in primitive forms is used among many groups of apes, with varying levels of success differing even by geographic areas as relatively close as the Gambia and Cameroon. Even other animals, less capable than us in dexterity or intellect, utilize technology and would be better off than a humanity which has foregone all technology. Without technology, we are worse off than our ancestors 5,000 generations ago.

[Arkotania]

I could do without technology. I just need light and my books.

I know a kid though(friend of mine) who basically "mentally" disappears when he gets his phone taken away. He falls into this depression where he becomes lethargic. It's pretty damn funny in my opinion.

I used to be hooked to the PC but after a month of being away from one, I've become rehabilitated. I always forget i even have a phone. If we don't have internet, i simply play some strategy games or board games(maybe Chess with my father).

I burn through books too quickly. I'd need a library, or several, seeing as I've read everything of interest in the two local libraries here. Chess is entertaining for a game or two, but it lacks the sort of strategic consideration I'm used to.

The internet offers me everything I could ever want. Books, by the thousand, essays, studies, history, literary criticism, art, film, anything, everything. People to discuss them with, even.

I never got into cell phones, though.

I can't seem to find enough people willing to play a nice game of chess. It's pretty fun but i believe for strategic purposes, id prefer a total war series.

I always visit my library(and am annoyed that the great books are stuck in references where i can't check them out. I don't always have time to spend at library). My favorite site is Wikipedia(no matter how many say it's "inaccurate"). It basically has everything i'd want to know. I never got into cellphones since i had my first when i was 8 for about 5 years then lost a phone, spent 2.5 years without it. I've grown too accustomed to not using one.

[Conserative Morality]

I can't seem to find enough people willing to play a nice game of chess. It's pretty fun but i believe for strategic purposes, id prefer a total war series.

I play with my great-uncle, usually. I play impulsively, because it's more fun that way. The Total War series is pretty good, I have Rome through Shogun II.

I always visit my library(and am annoyed that the great books are stuck in references where i can't check them out. I don't always have time to spend at library). My favorite site is Wikipedia(no matter how many say it's "inaccurate"). It basically has everything i'd want to know. I never got into cellphones since i had my first when i was 8 for about 5 years then lost a phone, spent 2.5 years without it. I've grown too accustomed to not using one.

Wiki is pretty good, and more accurate than most encyclopedias, but the citations and external links are there for a reason, and some of them are very entertaining.