Is Expertise Stealing Our Happiness? – Jeffbullas’s Weblog | The Global Today

She stated to me “I’m in love”. 

That acquired my consideration.

For a second I had that heat fuzzy feeling that comes from being advised that you’re your companion’s centered object of human happiness. 

However my companion wasn’t speaking about me… she was speaking about what she had in her hand. Her new Apple iPhone.

It was 2008. Steve Jobs had created an object of want. 15 years later, Apple has sold 1.5 billion units and has us hooked on our gadgets.

Quick ahead

Since then, the intersection of net applied sciences, social media, and moveable gadgets has facilitated unfettered entry to data, information, and leisure, wherever there’s an Web connection or cellular reception out there.

Our new instruments have improved our lives in some ways. 

Expertise has made issues a lot simpler. We are able to discuss to folks far-off shortly, journey the world over in lower than a day, and use instruments like Zoom and Google. We even have AI that may write articles, summarize books, and discover new methods to enhance our well being and create medicines a lot sooner than earlier than.

So, longer lives, extra productiveness, and leisure on faucet.

However there’s a drawback

Ever sat at a dinner desk and everybody has their cellphone out? You stroll down a avenue and it’s onerous to keep away from folks with their head of their cellphone. Folks cross the road with their earpods blocking out the bodily world and don’t discover that dashing automotive. 

Happiness is being left behind. Simply take a look at the information:

• Teenage suicide is double for the reason that introduction of social media. 
• Politics is now one in every of polarization and rage.  
• The dangerous actors are utilizing the know-how to spam and rip-off us.
• Productiveness has coincidentally dropped at about the identical time that social media grew to become well-liked.
• The AI algorithms are designed by Fb (and different social media platforms) to promote advertisements and that signifies that creating anger and drama and rage get extra clicks. Social media shouldn’t be designed for happiness.  
• We scroll via an Instagram feed for hours on a regular basis and see happiness and success in all places. The shiny outdoors of others usually makes you’re feeling envious and insufficient. We choose ourselves by the shiny polished contrived social media feed of others. 

We’re permitting ourselves to be utilized by the instruments as an alternative of utilizing the instruments. We’re related greater than ever however disconnected from one another.

We aren’t happier!

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So what does historical knowledge and analysis inform us?

Historic knowledge on happiness 

The Greek thinker Epicurus had some concepts and insights about what made a very good and fulfilling life 2,400 years in the past. I might name that happiness.

He highlighted three parts:

1. The corporate of fine mates
2. The liberty and autonomy to take pleasure in significant work
3. An “examined life” constructed round a core religion or philosophy

One of many biggest joys and sources of happiness for me is sitting spherical a dinner desk having fun with conversations with not one cell phone to be seen. And I’m positive I’m not alone. 

One other essential component of happiness is having the liberty to pursue my passions and bliss to create one thing significant and important.

And right here I’m writing and sharing my significant work. It’s not perfection however it’s my creation. And I’ve been doing this since 2009.  

What does science say?

Scientific analysis backs this knowledge of the worth and significance of wholesome relationships with an 85 year study. That is what they discovered: 

 “In 1938, Harvard researchers launched into a decades-long research to seek out out: What makes us pleased in life? The researchers gathered well being information from 724 members from everywhere in the world and requested detailed questions on their lives at two-year intervals. Opposite to what you may assume, it’s not profession achievement, cash, train, or a nutritious diet. 

Probably the most constant discovering we’ve discovered via 85 years of research is that this: Shut and wholesome relationships make us happier, hold us wholesome, and assist us reside longer.” 

It appears that evidently science and historical knowledge agree. 

Decisions

All of us have the power to decide on. We both select to make use of know-how for good. Or we let the instruments steal our happiness and humanity.

We’re at present working a world social experiment that if unchecked:

• Alienates us from one another. We’d fairly scroll which have a dialog.
• Separates us from nature. Being distracted by your cellphone or remoted from the skin world with headphones if you end up strolling means we’re lacking listening to the crashing surf and the sound of birds and the wind rustling the bushes.
• Chooses and prioritizes the person over neighborhood. 
• Distant work that alienates us from our neighborhood.  
• Synthetic Intelligence that reduces or totally automates our creativity, taking your which means and goal away. 

Shiny toys (or what is known as SOS “Shiny Object Syndrome”) are a enjoyable distraction and there for use however we have to make it possible for we’re not being abused by the technocracy.

Mark Zuckerberg didn’t design Fb for the frequent good, however to earn money with promoting out of your dependancy.

So how can we use know-how to make us happier fairly than be utilized by it? 

How can we make it possible for our eyes are vast open and never wired shut? 

How can we design our instruments for happiness and for a satisfying life?

We reside in a tremendous world however we have to reside a thought-about life. 

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