Digital Overload: More Harm than Help?

It’s a well-known fact that we are living in an age of technology. Our generation is defined not only by our technological advances, but also the applications of them. In an interview with Katie Couric, William Powers, author of “Hamlet’s Blackberry,” shares just how this technology is impacting our lives, both positively and negatively. Surely we can all be grateful for the ease with which we can now organize every aspect of our lives, including appointments, contacts, maps, Facebook and Twitter, all held in one hand. However, Powers book and interview serve to raise our awareness about the overuse of these “screens.” Powers says that we have adopted an approach that says the more connected to these devices, the better, a phenomenon he calls “digital maximalism.” I think Powers raises an important point when he says that these screens do great things, but by constantly living through them we are only scratching the surface of the emotional intelligence we have through face-to-face communication.

I was interested in the statistics Katie Couric shared that, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll, 1 in 7 married people said the use of PDA’s causes them to see their spouses less, and 1 in 10 people said they spent less time with their children under the age of 18. Powers goes on to talk about how technology can prevent deep thinking. Our brains can make more associations than even the best computers, he says, but that it can only happen if you have the time and space. Because of our lack of focus in today’s age, we’re lacking this deep thinking like that of Socrates. The digital overload we are experiencing is suffocating our ability to learn, rather than supplementing it. An article on NPR notes that “the average person today consumes almost three times as much information as what the typical person consumed in 1960,” based on research from the University of California, San Diego. In the same article, it is reported by The New York Times that “the average computer user checks 40 websites a day and can switch programs 36 times an hour.” Powers himself notes that he began to notice his inability to keep his focus on one book, something he used to be able to do. Although many people, myself included, claim that multitasking is possible; it really isn’t possible to do multiples tasks to their full extents.

It isn’t only the general public that is immersed in this overload of data. An article on “The Phoenix” notes that “at the last count, the US government owns or leases about 2100 data centers, and spends about half of its multi-billion dollar IT budget on digital storage.” The US Census Bureau alone holds more information than all the libraries in the nation combined. Powers brings in an interesting quote, calling the media “restless energy of the hunted mind.” I completely agree with his notion that digital connections are wonderful, but if used to excess they can be harmful. In an ideal world, technology would be used in balance. However, the novelty of newness is an instinct that draws us to overuse and crave all the new information and technology. I could identify with Powers when he spoke about dropping his phone in the water on Cape Cod and panicking, thinking that I would probably have a panic attack if this were to happen to me. Although there is obvious evidence that this age of digital overload is harmful and needs to be put into check, I don’t think people have the capacity to unplug themselves from the digital world because of the immense amount of reliance we as a generation have on it.