Discussion questions:
What are ways that digital technologies shape our lives and communities?
How can we use technologies in ways that expand meaningful in-person relationships, instead of replacing them?
What moral or ethical principles should guide us in the development and use of new technologies?
Perspectives for consideration…
"A major idea emanating from current academic discourse is that technology both shapes and is shaped by social, economic, political, and cultural forces. As one writer has put it, “A technology is not merely a system of machines with certain functions; rather it is an expression of a social world.” Automobiles and road networks, power and communications systems, and the Internet are not simply technical systems but also social processes shaped by social context. Technologies can empower us but may also embody or express existing relations of power and characteristics of culture, reinforce social inequities or pathologies, or manifest ideological or strategic goals. Notably, technology, in the words of one thinker, has become “a powerful vector of the acquisitive spirit”; it expresses wants or desires—and sometimes feeds them."
"In societies around the world, a growing share of interpersonal engagement is mediated through online channels and platforms. Information and communications technologies (ICT) are therefore central to any consideration of youth and social interaction. Linkages between youth and technology are often overemphasized, as if younger generations’ contributions to a better world could be reduced to writing code or designing apps. Digital technologies hold great promise, of course, but they have already caused considerable harm, as well. Youth are not immune to these dangers simply by having come of age using digital technologies. Indeed, ills such as media addiction, information overload, polarization, radicalization, and shortened attention span can be even more pernicious in a period of life characterized by ongoing neurological development in the brain, as well as psychological development of personal identity and sense of self. But despite these challenges—perhaps even because of them—youth have immense potential to lead the way toward societies engaging digital communications more thoughtfully and using them more constructively. Young people can provide vital insight, for example, into how various technologies can augment and expand meaningful in-person relationships, instead of replacing them. They can explore how emerging technologies can be deployed to advance social goals, instead of society continually adapting itself to the imperatives of each new wave of technological products. Critical in this regard will be individuals, communities, and entire societies learning how to make purposeful, values-informed choices about how technologies will be embraced and employed."
"Study after study in many materially prosperous societies confirms the rise of estrangement and alienation and the intensification of feelings of isolation and loneliness. What do you think are the causes of this alarming situation? Clearly, the way current technologies shape interactions between people is partly responsible. But to blame technology alone for this phenomenon does not seem to go to the heart of the matter. You need to think more profoundly about the direction these societies are taking, as they sink further and further into materialism. They insist on organizing themselves around the idea that every individual should follow his or her personal preferences and maximize his or her satisfaction. Yet they fail to see the relationship between the ills that afflict them and adherence to this materialistic principle. In this context, you should examine how the community-building efforts, now under way in villages and neighborhoods throughout the world, will preserve and, when needed, bring back the warmth of human association and solidarity."