Is it irony that Apple is the world’s most valuable company and the apple was the temptation of humanity in the Garden of Eden? Not placing the basis of this article on a biblical standpoint, but could Generation Z and their Apples be the turning point of the human race? The current generation has become a contrast to the previous generations due to our dependence and addiction to technology. Technology has been a huge developmental step for mankind; however, it has proved to have serious repercussions such as damaging self-esteem, social development, our sensuality and our priorities.
Social media was originally created to aid the continuation of long-distance relationships, including friendships, family and spouses. It connected people all over the world however it has also disconnected us from the people right in front of us. Many conversation pieces have drifted from intelligent arguments to social media. The conversation is pure repetition from person to person due to its frequent focus on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Yik Yak, Snapchat, or Vine. Frequently when friends are made, numbers and usernames are exchanged, and the quantity of followers they have, or the rate at which they rise are questioned. Comparison leads to violence within ourselves and between each other. So many people seek social approval based on the number of likes, followers, or shares, that no wonder in the past decade depression and ADHD have been on a continuous rise. Tracy Miller writes in the New York Daily News, “About 6.4 million children have received an ADHD diagnosis at some point — an increase of 16 percent since 2007 and 53 percent in the past decade,” Tracy Miller said. People frequently build and idolization of them selves online and utilize their life to update their wall. When their photos, statuses, or videos are not “liked” their self-esteem drops. They rationalize the idolization of “Facebook famous” or “viral people” because the photos and statuses highlight the highpoint of their experiences of life.
Although technology is convenient and constantly developing, it is not as beneficial to the individual as it is for the company. It has isolated many people and therefore sacrificed their social skills for the sake of social networking. For example, people will sit together at a restaurant and remain glued to their phones and not say a word to each other throughout the entire meal. Prior to classes, most of the people would rather scroll than introduce themselves to the person sitting next to them. Some of the most intimate moments with a spouse can consist of cuddling while one or both are on their phones. Public transportation has fallen silent. Parks are not nearly as populated as they used to be because children would rather be entertained with the flickering screen of an iPad rather than the outdoors. Due to the accessibility of the internet and texting, we have become consumed in maintaining and refreshing "the feed." There has been research that has showed that we are losing our social interaction skills especially adolescents. “…Kids spent an average of four-and-a-half hours texting, watching television and playing video games during a single typical school day. According to Uhls, this is on the low end — many children and teenagers spend more than seven-and-a-half-hours a day interacting with a screen of some sort. And when interacting with a screen, they aren’t interacting with a human" said Tracy Miller. Not only the that, but the amount of time we spend on technology is staggering, “We now spend almost half of our waking house either online, on the phone or watching television according to a survey, The average adult is awake for 15 hours and 45 minutes every day and forty-five percent of that time is spend using s proliferation of technology,” said Thomas Liz. Social media? More like anti-social media.
High definition, 3-D, 4-D and sound-proof headphones are often though to enhance our sensual abortion of the entertainment, but in reality it is damaging out original five senses. Sight, touch, hear, taste and smell are what make us human and our dependence on technology have made us incapable of fully utilizing them to the full extent. Not only that, but we are damaging them by our frequent if not constant use. Studies have shown significant increase in hearing loss ever since the introduction of headphones, some even as early as late 20’s. “1 in 5 teens has some form of hearing loss — a rate about 30 percent higher than it was in the 1980s and 1990s — which many experts believe is due, in part, to the increased use of headphones,” says osteopathic pediatrician, James E Foy. Looking around campus, one can see that a significant portion of students walking around with their headphones in. That in itself creates an invisible bubble of isolation, because not only does it decrease the likelihood of human interaction, but even the little amount of interaction that we do have is eliminated because we cut off our sense of hearing. The constant use of screens has increased sight impairment with the use of laptops, TV’s, especially video games and phones. The overuse of electronics has made us less aware of our own body and we take our senses for granted until someone forces us to notice the privilege.
Constant overstimulation has made us lose touch with nature and our body. Due to the compaction and abbreviation our generation has become so used to constant fast paced provocation of our senses. We seek entertainment in videos that have been reduced to six seconds, chats have been reduced to 10-second snaps or less with no recovery, an objective to voice our thoughts and opinions in one-hundred characters or less, frequently we get frustrated if our video needs a few seconds to buffer or takes more than half a minute to load. We have become so fast-paced, and constant stimulation has become our normal. This has made us incapable of utilizing natures natural relaxing and replenishing abilities. Not only that, but although meditation is still a frequent practice, rarely it is seen without music/headphones. Common wind-down techniques today include playing video games, listening to music and watching videos — all of which are tools of distraction. Using distraction as a coping mechanism has shown to increase anxiety and depression rather becoming in touch with oneself has proven to be effective and healthy.
Smartphones and high speed internet access were developed for our convenience but society has made them so available it has taken over and has been placed high than it should be on the average person’s priority list. The average hours of sleep have decreased over the last decade because smartphones have made the media accessible anywhere and anytime. “…American adolescents receive between 7.5-8.5 hours of sleep per night, with many sleeping fewer than 6.5 hours on school nights. Cellular phone use is emerging as an important factor that interferes with both sleep quality and quantity, particularly as smartphones become more widely available to teens” said Sue Adams. Some of us have compromised our punctuality because we have forgotten our phone. Many adolescents have reported getting distracted frequently when studying therefore decreasing productivity. Technology has been a huge step for mankind but unfortunately the availability has decreased the developmental standpoint for humans. Many people describe us as a “world full of smart phones and dumb people.”
Generation Z has become dependent and obsessive over the use of technology. It has extreme repercussions such as the damaging of self-esteem, social development, and sensuality, as well as a total mix-up in the order of our priorities. Although it has been a huge developmental step for mankind, technology is now impeding the potential continual growth of humanity. This is when you ask yourself, "How much irony is in the fact that our Generation ends with Z?"
