Understanding Our Love for Technology

A new book aims to illustrate how people have grown in love for technology.  A professor at MIT who focuses on the social studies of technology and science also happens to be a psychologist.  She has researched this subject for years and finally put together her findings.

Separating Reality from Virtual Worlds

The professor has looked at various people and different relationships.  Adults, teens, kids, digital animals, robots and social network sites have all been examined.  The author explains that as humans we can lose the true value of a face to face conversation if we place more worth on the chat we have with robots or 3D avatars.

Using Technology as a Shield

A claim from the author is that our attraction to technology is like a dual edge sword.  Our relationship with the characters we meet online can give us the sense of having an intimate connection with another person.  That is a basic desire of most people.  The flip side is that this type of substitute relationship blocks us from pursuing or experiencing a true one to one connection with a real life person.

The Prime Root

Most of the actions in chat rooms and virtual worlds are really just an expression of people’s true desires.  The various tools used to build avatars and create pictures are a way for people to show the world who they would like to be rather than who they are.  Instead of making changes and improvements in their real life, people choose to accept their virtual persona as reality.  Unfortunately this type of condition usually leaves people isolated and alone.  There is no real substitute for connections made in person, through contact and experience.  People that try to minimize real human contact by spending so much of their time online are ultimately harming themselves.