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Introspect for a while what the mindless use and careless overindulgence in online applications like chat rooms and social media are doing to the career and life of our children! Has the users at any time thought about what they are losing in their life by hugely investing the most precious and valuable resource in their life, ‘the time’, in online social media services like Facebook or Twitter, blogs, and chat rooms? Are they so essential in the life of these youngsters as to exclusively spend several hours of their precious time every day on such online activities at the expense of many other far more crucial real life activities which are indispensable to their personal growth? What sort of lifestyle, culture and society are the people abusing social service networks promoting? How to ensure that internet and various applications are not overused or misused by children and teenagers? Should not the parents and the society be concerned about the deteriorating mental health, moral and social values among the affected children? Who is to blame for this state of affairs? Who are the real benficiaries of the social networking services - users, society, advertisers, the promoters or some others? At this juncture it is relevant to recall that social networking and similar online services are the major contributors to the information explosion and the resulting information overload we are experiencing in modern times.
In the context of abuse, misuse, wrong use and overuse of the technology applications, social media services and other online applications as well as smart phones stand out more prominently as popular, universal and all pervasive ones. Hence more time is spent discussing about them in this article. It is not a subjective issue of whether one is ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ technology or ‘tech-savvy’ or a ‘novice’. What is being highlighted throughout this article is that technology applications inclusive of all information age devices when used wisely for productive and well meant purposes promise to offer a host of benefits; at the same time their misuse, abuse and overuse or obsessive and compulsive indulgements can lead to dangerous consequences to the individuals and to society which are already indicated in the previous discussions.
When a tool is sophisticated and powerful, the user of the tool needs to be educated by competent trainers on how to use it beneficially and not to misuse, overuse or abuse it. Unfortunately nowhere children are taught that technology applications are powerful, and these tools, meant to benefit mankind, have the power to create as well as to detroy. They
are double edged weapons and hence need to be used carefully and all the more wisely. The fundamental problem as emphasized earlier in this article is - in this busy world, hardly anyone gets any time or opportunity to acquire the requisite skills for using the IT applications in the right way. Herein lies the importance of imparting the right education
in a scientifically planned fashion starting from very young age and of initiating mass awareness programs discussed in the beginning.
An information technology application as a tool can be used for gaining a substantial benefit in the real world. Also it can be used exclusively for experiencing and living in the virtual world. We can live in the virtual world, but also be conscious of it; do not get into the habit or compulsion of mindless extreme experiences. We cannot expect this to happen automatically. It requires appropriate education to develop the mind - education to inculcate the ‘right mindset and emotional maturity’.
It is also equally important to be borne in mind that tools demand to be used in prticular ways even when we use them for productive or meaningful work - the human mind adapts to the way we use the tool. Under these situations, the focus should be on the objectives of the task or activity and not in experiencing the tool. How to achieve this? - Again, through proper mind training at the time of learning to use the tool.
A simple mental exercise: Next time, immediately after using a mobile phone, for a moment introspect on where was your attention when you were engaged with the phone. You were using the phone or the phone was using you? Are you able to see any difference between:
(i) mindless chatting over the mobile phone for extended periods,
(ii) using it without any specific objectives, but being aware of using the mobile phone,
(iii) using the mobile phone just for the fun of using it,
(iv) using it for a necessary communication and not being conscious of what you are doing, and,
(v) using it for a necessary communication and being fully conscious of what you are doing.
The differences are subtle, but their effects on our mind can be vastly different. Repeat this exercise at a different time when you are relaxed (not stressed or tired) and alert and also have not used the mobile phone at least for a few hours prior to doing the second introspection. Did you find any difference in the outcomes of the first and second exercises? Remember that mobile phone is only a tool, a powerful one in that, and the power of the mobile phone is that of the software applications loaded into it. When we say that the user is adapting to the ways of the gadget, it also means that the user is adapting to the applications. Now extend this simple exercise to other online activities and chek if you can find out the impact of these experiences on your mind.
In the context of abuse, misuse, wrong use and overuse of the technology applications, social media services and other online applications as well as smart phones stand out more prominently as popular, universal and all pervasive ones. Hence more time is spent discussing about them in this article. It is not a subjective issue of whether one is ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ technology or ‘tech-savvy’ or a ‘novice’. What is being highlighted throughout this article is that technology applications inclusive of all information age devices when used wisely for productive and well meant purposes promise to offer a host of benefits; at the same time their misuse, abuse and overuse or obsessive and compulsive indulgements can lead to dangerous consequences to the individuals and to society which are already indicated in the previous discussions.
When a tool is sophisticated and powerful, the user of the tool needs to be educated by competent trainers on how to use it beneficially and not to misuse, overuse or abuse it. Unfortunately nowhere children are taught that technology applications are powerful, and these tools, meant to benefit mankind, have the power to create as well as to detroy. They
are double edged weapons and hence need to be used carefully and all the more wisely. The fundamental problem as emphasized earlier in this article is - in this busy world, hardly anyone gets any time or opportunity to acquire the requisite skills for using the IT applications in the right way. Herein lies the importance of imparting the right education
in a scientifically planned fashion starting from very young age and of initiating mass awareness programs discussed in the beginning.
An information technology application as a tool can be used for gaining a substantial benefit in the real world. Also it can be used exclusively for experiencing and living in the virtual world. We can live in the virtual world, but also be conscious of it; do not get into the habit or compulsion of mindless extreme experiences. We cannot expect this to happen automatically. It requires appropriate education to develop the mind - education to inculcate the ‘right mindset and emotional maturity’.
It is also equally important to be borne in mind that tools demand to be used in prticular ways even when we use them for productive or meaningful work - the human mind adapts to the way we use the tool. Under these situations, the focus should be on the objectives of the task or activity and not in experiencing the tool. How to achieve this? - Again, through proper mind training at the time of learning to use the tool.
A simple mental exercise: Next time, immediately after using a mobile phone, for a moment introspect on where was your attention when you were engaged with the phone. You were using the phone or the phone was using you? Are you able to see any difference between:
(i) mindless chatting over the mobile phone for extended periods,
(ii) using it without any specific objectives, but being aware of using the mobile phone,
(iii) using the mobile phone just for the fun of using it,
(iv) using it for a necessary communication and not being conscious of what you are doing, and,
(v) using it for a necessary communication and being fully conscious of what you are doing.
The differences are subtle, but their effects on our mind can be vastly different. Repeat this exercise at a different time when you are relaxed (not stressed or tired) and alert and also have not used the mobile phone at least for a few hours prior to doing the second introspection. Did you find any difference in the outcomes of the first and second exercises? Remember that mobile phone is only a tool, a powerful one in that, and the power of the mobile phone is that of the software applications loaded into it. When we say that the user is adapting to the ways of the gadget, it also means that the user is adapting to the applications. Now extend this simple exercise to other online activities and chek if you can find out the impact of these experiences on your mind.
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