To say that there is a complex relationship between humans and technology is an understatement. The good which technology has done society is undeniable; from advances in modern medicine to increased convenience of every day life. Technology has always been the gasoline which fueled change in society throughout history. However, technology is not without its adverse effects.
Speculation of the future of technology is something I would consider entirely useless. There is no point to weighing the pros and cons of technologies which have yet to exist. However, I believe it is extremely beneficial to weigh the pros and cons of technologies which do already exist. The two technologies which I would like to discuss are the internet and the smartphone.
The internet is a creation which has yielded tremendous benefits and drawbacks. It has provided tremendous help to both big and small businesses, it has made shopping more convenient, it has allowed people from all over the world to stay in contact with each other and so much more. However, the internet has also contributed to a large number of problems as well. For one, the pornography industry has grown exponentially since the internet came to be. It only took six yers after video-streaming's normalization for adult entertainment to become the number one streamed category. Pornography addictions have skyrocketed since. Along with the growth of the adult entertainment industry, the sex trafficking industry has boomed. However, while sex trafficking is an awful and despicable, it is unlikely that anyone in this class will be directly affected by it. So, are there negatives of the internet which almost certainly affect every single person in this class, and university as a whole?
Once the laptop became mainstream, social media as we know it took off not long after, with the 2005 launching of Facebook. Social media has only grown since the adoption of the smartphone. Social media, and smartphones in general, are both inventions which have had massive impacts on society. With 3.6 billion social media users in the world and over 85% of Americans owning a smartphone, it is likely that nearly everyone you know has both of these technologies. So, how has this affected the world?
To start, the average person spends 5-6 hours on their smartphone a day. Not only this, but this figure does NOT include work-related smartphone usage. The average person also spends 147 minutes on social media a day, just under two and a half hours. This means, firstly, that half of the average person's time spent on their phone is spent using social media. Secondly, it means that people are spending around 25% of any given day on their phone. Combine that with the eight hours of sleep that someone should be getting, and there is only about 10 hours a day which the average person does NOT spend on their phone.
However, more affected than anyone else by both smartphones and social media, is Generation Z. Gen Z is the only generation to date that has grown up surrounded by both of the technologies in question. On average, Gen Z spends 7.6 hours on their phones a day. This fact, coupled with a study by the National Institute of Health, is jarring. The study says that children who were exposed to more than two hours of screen time a day scored lower on language and thinking tests. Additionally, children who spent more than seven hours on screens showed a thinning of the brain's cortex, which is responsible for critical thinking and reasoning.
Equally concerning is the link which has been found between smartphone usage and depression. A separate study by the NIH concluded that "The positive correlation between smartphone addiction and depression is alarming. Reasonable usage of smart phones is advised, especially among younger adults and less educated users who could be at higher risk of depression."
Keeping this information in mind, let's transition over to the mental health studies done on Generation Z. Generation Z, according to an article in MedicalNewsToday, "Members of Generation Z report higher rates of depression and a number of other mental health conditions than do generations before them." To be precise, over 70% of Gen Z members polled reported symptoms of depression during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to this, Generation Z is the most stressed out generation in the United States. There's no way that that information is correct, right? Wrong. A study by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that Gen Z is indeed the most stressed out generation in America. So, summed up in a single sentence, Generation Z is the most depressed, most anxious, and most stressed generation in America today.
What is the result of this? From 2007 to 2017, the suicide rate of individuals between 10-24 has rose 56%. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Gen Z. So, let's review one more time. Gen Z is more anxious, more depressed, more stressed, and more of a danger to themselves than any other generation in American history.
While I am not saying that smartphones and social media are the sole cause of these factors, I would like to present a question. What is so different about the world that Gen Z grew up in compared to the world that other generations grew up in? War, famine, sickness, climate change; it all existed for every other generation as well. The only major difference I can think of in the world that Gen Z grew up in compared to the world other generations grew up in is smartphones and social media.
In addition to this, a study at UNC states that smartphones affect the way users think, their sleep patterns, their behavior, and impairs their social and emotional skills. Additionally, every tap we make on our phone screen and every notification we receive releases dopamine into our brains. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter which our brain uses to reward us for things we do that help us to survive. There are relatively few natural things which cause our brain to produce dopamine. Sleep, exercise, eating, hydrating, and sex account for most of the natural dopamine which is released in a person's brain. Dopamine is also released by things such as nicotine, drugs, and alcohol also release dopamine. This is exactly what gives these substances their addictive nature. Considering that smartphones release dopamine with each tap and notification, the average member of Gen Z spends 7.6 hours a day releasing dopamine into their brains.
On a neurochemical level, one of the major aspects of depression is a lack of dopamine production from the brain. Often times, what causes this is an influx in artificial dopamine production. The brain can become overwhelmed when dealing with an influx of artificially-gained dopamine releases. When these artificial releases are consistent, the brain learns to naturally produce less dopamine, so as to not get overwhelmed. This means that when the individual is not constantly using an artificial source of dopamine, they begin to feel depressed. Gen Z has grown up with the holy grail of artificial dopamine: smartphones. We can spend 7.6 hours a day feeding ourselves dopamine with little no societal consequence.
Now, let's return to the question at the beginning of this blog; the relationship between humanity and technology. I would put forth that technology is a great thing, and so is the internet. However, smartphones, without a doubt, cause more harm than good. I do not know the solution. The banning of smartphones seems over the top, but the more I consider the effects that smartphones have had, maybe it's not so extreme after-all. Regardless, I believe something must be done about the harmful ways which smartphones are affecting society, especially Generation Z.
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