Pros & cons of using a computer in our daily life

Computer is the biggest invention of the 19th century. Nowadays everyone is connected with computer. No body even can imagine his life without computer because computer has made our lives so easer. Computers are everywhere nowadays, ever since the information age because, computers have become a vital source of information, in fact, it is true that the rise of computers brought with it the age of information. Giving access to all of humanity the immense information at its disposal. Computers have allowed easy access to information, it has also allowed people to stay connected 24/7, 365 days a year. Taking an overlook, one might assume that computers have brought in a social revolution. Allowing people access to everyone’s status at all times.

According to Stephen Hawking “ We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.” (Stephen Hawking) People are connected constantly with their devices, phones, social networks, etc. are changing the landscapes of communication. No more one needs to talk to another human being to get a status of their life. For a while this kind of communication boom was revolutionary until it brought in with it a lethargic, nowadays people barely meet up face to face for a coffee or for dinner to catch up with each other, why should they? They are aware of the corners of each other’s life at any given time.

Communication has become stale and it is all due to the excess of communication. People are so much bombarded by each other’s information that they don’t feel the need to go out of their way to meet up or actually communicate. Communication through computer devices is a facade, people show you how much they want to, much of which is made up. Communication via text or phone call is not the same thing as speaking to each other face to face, psychologically speaking, body language of a person, how they speak, and their various intonation is lost in translation from one medium to other.

Just like the excess of information brought by these computing devices haven’t made people into walking gods filled to brim with knowledge and wisdom, likewise the excess of communication hasn’t brought people closer. While excess communication may not truly benefit us in our daily lives and only cause low communication between us. One may argue that it is affecting the people of today in a completely negative way, this making them anti-social.

We see that kids nowadays prefer to stay home with their laptops, phones, or gaming devices rather than going out and playing with other kids which is an important part of being social. These anti-social patterns destroy a person’s communicative abilities thus making our societies less communicative. Other than that, causing a distinct lack of relationship skills which can only be formed through rigors of life which these people never go through because a computer satisfies their being.

The effects of isolation from the emergence of computers are huge. Computers allow people to form shallow bonds with other people. These weakly linked social connections lead to a dissatisfaction of everyday interactions. We humans are a social being, we thrive on doses of social interactions. Humans have tried to replace their social interactions with these social networks which leads to having weak social connections leading people to feelings of dissatisfaction eventually leading to depression.

People are more likely to seek friends/social connections on social networks, which takes away from the general sense of being connected, our brains did not evolve to connect with a person through a screen and some text, we need real tangible people to be with which our brains can interpret. Simply said, a virtual world experience is not the same as a real-world experience.

Moreover, these devices and platforms dehumanize people. When there is nothing else to look at but text and a picture, our brains can misinterpret the person’s actions and ways. This simply cannot be mitigated no matter how advanced technology gets. We can observe the effects of dehumanization through technology on various social networks where the worst of human natures come out to sabotage people. Most of these people would not fathom doing such an act or saying such a thing in a face to face conversation but the computer screen provides them with an impenetrable shield.

Whilst the general population may think that the quantity of social interactions is most important, it is actually not the most important part of our social being. Humans need quality social interaction, and the stronger these are, the better it is. With the advent of computing devices and communication through it, we see a steep decline in everyday communication, the reason for it is simple, why talk to someone face to face when it can be done faster through a text. People have stopped visiting each other’s so often because of the same factor, everyone is so connected all the time that there is no need for visiting anyone other than the occasional affair. Which is where the shallow connections analogy comes into being, where multiple shallow interactions cannot aim to strike down a in depth strong connection.

These factors alone explain the decline in everyday communication skills. People rather than talking to each other in daily life, seek to find each other on Facebook so they can chat up. Text based communication is preferred over vocal communication. It would not be as bad if the text-based communication had not devolved into the mess it is right now disallowing people from ever building considerable communication skills.

The B. C. Ministry of Health defines loneliness as “ subjective and measured using questions that seek perceptions of relationships, social activity, and feelings about social activity. Social isolation is objective and can be measured using observations of an individual’s social interactions and network.” Although loneliness and isolation are related, they refer to distinct aspects of the social world of older people. Hence “ the terms should not be used interchangeably to refer to a single concept.” (B. C. Ministry of health)

Although computer has made communication much faster and quick but it has many drawbacks than any of its benefits. It has also decreased the quality of human relation nowadays people do not realize the importance of face to face real world relationships and this is going to lead some serios issues. One of them is decreasing the communication skill. While people are online they think that grammar and language skills are not important but this thing may lead trouble them in their real life and in their professional life. Social media has also made people lazy and liar too. We can improve our communication skill only if we give the importance to face to face communication. Itself technology is not a bad thing but it depends upon only the usage of technology. If we use technology with proper limitation it can not be harmful to anyone. So, it is easy to conclude that the drawbacks of any technology are much more than any of its benefits.