Tech Is Not Just Bad nor Good: Biological Determinism In Tech

Biological Determinism

Last week I read a report by the Data & Society. A research group that investigates the impact of technology. The report talks about the common myths of technology. One myth I will be exploring is social media is addictive and powerless to resist.

They examined that most myths in the report come down to biological determinism:

which suggests that our “Paleolithic” brains cannot resist “God-like” technology, placing too much power in the hands of tech companies to both create and destroy our capacity for attention.

This concept gives a good idea of the recent anti-tech movement.

The general idea here is we don’t give much credit to ourselves when dealing with technology. They are people that have healthy relationships with their devices. So it must be possible.

When explaining the myth in the report. They mention that behaviours that we moralise and put a biological spin. Make us forget about human agency and cultural surroundings.

Then went on to explain that new technologies tend to have serious moral panic. Normally with concern about women and children.

The pessimist archive talked about this a lot. With the funny examples of books and bicycles. The account took a parting shot at the most famous materials of technology moral panic today.

The Social Dilemma.

A documentary about ex-big tech workers talking about the ills of technology. In the documentary the host, Tristan Harris said there was no moral panic against bicycles. He was wrong. The pessimists' archive overlayed headlines while talking about the topic. Funny video indeed.

https://twitter.com/PessimistsArc/status/1306011195212783618?s=20

The report mentions:

This myth reinforces the narrative that technology design leads to control of millions of users, locating enormous power with a small group of tech companies.

Nir Eyal touches on this as well. That technology addiction has very little evidence. So this is an area that needs to have more research. But for now, we should not be too sure about ourselves. When it comes to this topic.

We Are Not All The Same

The report mentions that different people have different responses to technology. Which is obvious when you think about it. But gets lost in our discourse. Different mental health and wellbeing can be different for young adults using social media.

Different groups use platforms differently. Marginalized communities may benefit from increased access, visibility, and community through these platforms.

The conclusion of the section explains that you should not assume everybody using tech is going to get addicted. Nor have mental health issues.

They called for more expansion of research. Meaning people from different background be included in the research and product designs.

In many areas of the world being part of the LGBT community can lead to persecution. So finding a community online. Can be the only way to find like-minded people. And talk about the issues they deal with.

In some areas of the world. Access to certain information is very difficult. If you’re an Iranian that wants to watch Hollywood movies. One will need to pirate the films. Due to an embargo of the country.

Yes, we don’t need to be on our phones 24/7 but they are some very good uses for using our devices.

Even society may change, which forces you to use technology differently. Coronavirus is the best example of that. In which people learnt about remote work. And got accustomed to using zoom and other workplace software.

Your laptop was primarily used to watch Netflix and YouTube. Now you are doing work instead. You may be spending the same hours on the device. But doing completely different tasks.

This is why we need nuance when talking about the downsides of tech. They are important to talk about. So we can improve devices and reduce the harm created by them. But hyperbole does not help.

Even with that example. They can still be issues. Many people have the problem of their workplace being always on. The employee always needs to be on call. Leaving not much time for anything outside of work. So, you can never turn off from work.

Cal Newport talks about this a lot in this blog. About the issue of people always being plugged into the workplace. Without getting much work done. Which he calls the hyperactive hive mind.

While this is a serious issue. Do we say people are addicted to zoom or email?[1]

Talking about how technology can be improved in a certain context will be helpful. Not just labelling a device bad and waiting for the tech companies to do something. Or poorly written legislation to fix it.

Technology Is Not Just Good or Bad (The Need For Nuance)

I like what the report says:

The concept of addiction does not encompass the full range of pleasures, risks, and uses that people create with technology

A summary of what I said. Using the term addiction implies that you are addicted or not, technology is only good or bad. Which is not the case. In some contexts, a certain technology is fantastic but in other cases not so.

Changing what words we use that describes our relationship with technology. May help us get rid of some of the guilt associated with that line of thinking. So when using your phone you don’t feel bad. When you are getting value from the activity.

This does not say you should do nothing with your relationship with tech. Many people recommend turning off notifications on your phone. And don’t recommend using your device late at night. And other activities.

You should ask, what value this device or technology provides for me?

When thinking deeply about this answer. You should not feel bad when using your phone for Netflix. If that’s what you plan to do. And you don’t need to think of yourself as “addicted” to Netflix. Just a consumer who wants to watch good TV shows.

-

If you liked this article. Sign up for my mailing list. Where I write more stuff like this. And a place to share your thoughts on the blog posts.

[1] Some people say your addicted to email, That I may add