Technology has played a crucial role in the growth of the world economy as well as individual wealth. But it wasn’t always pretty.
The Good
Technology has enabled the amassing of unprecedented wealth as well as access to information. It advances so rapidly due to the accessibility of information and shared knowledge with more and more people across the globe. This means more minds are working on today’s problems than ever before and thus increase the speed at which they are solved.
As technology advances, so too does the world economy. As the world economy grows, more countries and peoples are able to benefit from it. At least that is the theory.
In part this theory is holding true, although not always via altruistic means.
At home, technology has helped us manage our funds better, providing numerous tools to budget and track our spending, like online bank accounts, and tools like Mint.com.
It is also easier to apply for and receive credit, whether for credit cards, car loans, and even mortgages. You don’t even have to meet with a live person anymore!
That brings us to the bad part of technology and wealth.
The Bad
Technology has not only brought wealth, it has robbed us of wealth in many of the following ways as well:
- We don’t feel our purchases as much because we hardly ever use cash
- We are forgetting how things are made or grown because we can have it delivered as a finished product nearly instantly
- We have forgotten how long it takes to make something of quality by hand
- We have made almost everything disposable and we are subsequently turning a significant part of our land into landfills for the disposed items
- We are forgetting how to interact as human beings:
- We socialize via social apps like Facebook and Snapchat
- We date in a virtual dating room online, only occasionally meeting face to face
- Some have noted the decline in sexual intimacy due to the availability of pornography or the fantasy of virtual relationships
- Marriages are falling apart due to lack of communication – helped in part by the distractions of technology
- We constantly fuel our fears and anxieties by watching the non-stop stream of negatively that is considered news today
- We are panicked by predictions of economic meltdowns every 3 months
- We are terrified of our neighbors who are potential terrorists or child molesters
- We rely on small bits of unsubstantiated news to shape our worldview instead of taking the time to think and analyze for ourselves
David Byrne stated this beautifully in a recent article called Eliminating the Human, in the MIT Technology Review journal (thanks to Tim Ferriss for sharing this in his #5BulletFriday email):
“I’m not saying that many of these tools, apps, and other technologies are not hugely convenient. But in a sense, they run counter to who we are as human beings.”
The Ugly
And then there is the downright ugliness of technology and its negative impact on our ability to achieve and realize wealth.
Technology has given humanity the means with which to destroy itself. Weapons of mass destruction, the ecological impact of rampant hybridization of plants and irresponsible research on medications and disease. Not that it is all irresponsible, but when the bottom line dictates when it is ready, shortcuts are bound to be taken and mistakes made.
While technology has given us the tools to help humanity and our planet, it has also long been the cause of massive pollution, exploitation of natural resources, as well as many of the new strains of disease which we are now battling.
We can’t go back and change these things or undo them, but we can reflect on them long enough to understand there is a better way, a more human way.
Conclusion
The good news is it is not the end of the world just yet.
If our perspective remains as one focused on the well being of others, the way we use and interact with technology will be for all our benefit, and the wealth we build will not only serve us but the rest of the world as well.