Technology Emraces Convenience, But At What Price?

​In 2017, David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) wrote an article, "Eliminating the Human." In the article, Byrne said, "I have a theory that much recent tech development and innovation over the last decade or so has had an unspoken overarching agenda - it has been about facilitating the need for LESS human interaction. It’s not a bug - it’s a feature."

Byrne suggested most technological advances were aimed at eliminating the friction many people feel interacting with one another.

The friction of bumping into other humans at the grocery store - let's just have our groceries dropped off at our front door.

The friction of having to get together in a neighborhood lot to throw the ball - let's just sit alone in our rooms and play games with one another virtually.

The friction of reading our child a bedtime story - "Alexa, will you read Keith a bedtime story, please."

The friction of getting up on Sunday morning and going to church - thankfully no need these days; it's all online.

The examples are endless. And growing.

Dr. Laurie Santos says, "The two things that predict whether you're happy or not are how much time you spend with friends and family members, and how much time you’re physically around other people. The more of that you do, the happier you’re going to be."

Earlier this week, I had just finished leading a session on the human brain. After the session, we took a break.

I was standing on the front porch getting some air when a participant (and new friend) approached me and said he'd like to share something with me. He proceeded to play a YouTube video of him singing a song about the brain to young children.

The video was magical.

I felt happy.

Yes, the video was uplifting. But my friend shared this with me because we had a shared interest. I loved seeing the joy and pride on his face as he boldly allowed his gift to fuel and inform our shared humanity.

The next day I played the video for our entire group. And suddenly, we were all sharing in my porch moment with my friend. Suddenly, there was shared happiness.

It occurred to me that I was in a moment that could have never happened if the training was being conducted virtually. Oh, I suppose some form of it could have, but not that "in real life in real time" form.

Virtual trainings do eliminate some of the friction of having to travel to be together. They eliminate some of the coordination and prep that goes into preparing a meeting space. They eliminate some of the discomforts that come with gathering in a room with strangers and some of the 'forced' getting to know one another that comes with spending three days together.

But what if true happiness is found on the other side of getting to know one another - forced or not.

A baby's first smile comes in response to the smile of another human.

A baby's first sense of peace comes in response to the peaceful interaction it finds within the peace of another human.

A baby grows to depend on human connection.

I suppose it is a pain at times to have to depend on one another. To need one another. There is friction there. But there's a lot of research that suggests humanity has never been in greater pain. Is it because humanity has never had to depend on one another less?

We've come a long way in eliminating many of the frictions that come with human interaction. Is it possible that in doing so we are slowly but surely eliminating happiness?

Maybe there is some friction when we use our much needed break time to watch a friend's video. But maybe much more than we know, or crave, that friction is the foundation of our happiness.

(If you'd like to share in my porch experience, check my friend's brain video out in the comments.)