We are in an age when technology reigns supreme. We rely on technology to function more and more every day, as technology increases in intelligence and as we grow more and more accustomed to having it available to us. This relationship we are developing with technology has benefits, but has also been found to have many detriments. There is a great deal of question over what our relationship to technology is doing to us psychologically. Humanity is evolving from a species that interacted to do manual work to a species that retreats to isolation and relies on technology to do work for it. One of mankind’s ways of life that has suffered most drastically because of this is our everyday human contact.

The insurgence of technology that has been the recent condition of humanity has initiated a strange phenomenon. Technology has begun to replace the in-person presence of humans, both in the workplace and in our social spheres. This is concerning for a number of reasons, primarily that technology is replacing humans in the work place despite a growing need for continued job creation, and because antisocial conditions are a serious mental health threat. Economists and job market experts have observed that, despite a growing global population, job creation is occurring much slower than population growth due to how many jobs are being taken from humans and given to technology. Social scientists have observed a connection between the increase in technology and the increase in antisocial disorders, such as narcissism, sociopathic tendencies and chronic shyness.

Our over-reliance on technology is becoming commonplace, but it warrants caution and should be personally moderated by every individual. It is leading us to interact with technology more than interact with other people, which ultimately damages our sense of what human relationships are. Technology is not evil. It is necessary, progressive and life-saving. But like everything else in life, if it is used in excess, it becomes harmful.

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North American society is indisputably fractured in some ways. Gun violence, divorce rates and mental illness are at an all time high. The ability to co-exist and resolve conflicts, which are basic human relationship skills, are not present like they should be within a healthy society. There are many possible reasons for this dysfunctional behavior, not the least of which is technology and what effect it has had on society as a whole. Albert Einstein said, “I fear the day technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” Some believe this condition is already upon us.

The emergence of technology came with the ideal that we would come closer together as a species through technology. Not only would we come to understand truths together, we would be more connected and enabled to communicate. While these were noble ideals, an equal and opposite reaction has been observed in North American society since digital technology emerged. Instead of closer relationships, technology has divided us. Where there used to be an in-person conversation, complete with non-verbal signals, facial expressions and deeply personal communication, we have become philosophically removed from one another by channeling our interactions through technology. No one anticipated that communication through technology would become preferred to in-person communication, but it largely has.

Could it be that the introduction of communication technology has contributed to the fracturing of North American social consciousness? Is it possible that mediating our communication through devices has made communication impersonal, and thus made us more anti-social and narcissistic? The weight of mental illness and violence is certainly not entirely on communication technology, but social scientists and psychologist alike have claimed that it contributes to individualism in a large way, in a time when social thinking is very important. The best thing we can do as a society to reverse this trend is to think critically about our relationship with technology, put limits on it and remember how to prioritize our in-person relationships for the sake of humanity.