My how technology for the masses has evolved. When did it all start? I don’t mean TV from the early 50’s and radio before that. I am referring to computers and what has evolved since. I remember buying my first computer in the late 1980’s that had a CP/M operating system and a four inch green monochrome phosphor screen. It was called a Kaypro-II and cost about $1800. It was all metal and weighed 26-pounds. It folded up and had a handle to carry but it was heavy to haul around. But it came with its own word processor and the 5.25 disks really were floppy, but it had a great keyboard and got me through grad school. On 6 August 1991, the World Wide Web went live to the world but it took time for the public to really catch on. We managed just fine without all the interconnectively we have today but there is no looking back now. The first iPhone was released in June of 2007 and the first iPad in April of 2010. That’s not that long ago but it seems to me that digital technology is becoming the zeitgeist for our time. The average age that kids get their first cell phone is 9-years old. It has become a world-wide phenomenon. Technology has a momentum that is accelerating and it feels exciting. I am always curious about the next gadget and all the new applications it can provide us with. But I believe there is a collective shadow to all of this (sorry).
While I assume not everyone is addicted to this technologically expanding momentum, it really has redefined our culture. If you don’t know how to use a computer these days and you expect to be part of the work force you are basically out of luck. Most folks who work in an office are sitting in front of a computer all day long. To finish work at home they must sit in front of their home computer (Bill Gates was very prescient about his prediction of a computer on every desk top). When work at home is done perhaps you forward to playing and communicating and browsing on your latest tablet. I have written about my concerns about all of this as a shift from an internal orientation to what has become an overemphasized outer orientation to obtaining information from the screen in front of you. I wonder what the stats are about the prevalence of meditation and other mind-quieting activities these days. I am not suggesting though that this is all bad. Far from it. BUT, I believe that if you are not conscious about your personal goals and your relationship to the media in general, you may just end up becoming seduced by the various forms of the media and end up becoming psychologically dependent on this outer-oriented information emphasis to your own detriment. This would be a seduction process that never ends, looking forward to the next great gadget that does more and runs faster and has a better screen etc., etc. The solution is to maintain strong energetic boundaries with the media. What does this mean? It means you have a meta-awareness of your desires and drive to engage in the media of your choice. It means that you have a conscious relationship to the media of your choice and interact with it deliberately instead of compulsively and habitually. In DEH there are many strategies for establishing energetic boundaries so that you keep your power in relationship to your media choices. The key is awareness. I hope you can do it. Otherwise, you may be quietly becoming just another drone of the hive mind. An interesting consideration about personal autonomy versus the larger collective determining your motivations.
Posted by Howard Brockman, LCSW
October 30, 2012
Howard Brockman
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