Recent trends in technology have sparked debates about whether they are good or bad for society, if they help us live more productive lives, and if they simply distract us from important things.
Some people fear that technologies will be used to control and monitor citizens, while others believe that technological advancements can only enhance our quality of life.
There is no clear consensus among scientists and experts on how beneficial or harmful new technologies are.
This article will talk you through some examples of studies that address this question, and why their findings do not provide strong support either way.
Keep reading to learn the truth about the effects of social media on your health, how self-driving cars could save lives, and what professionals should know about the dangers of screen time.
The limitations of clinical trials
A major limitation to using research findings in practice is that most studies are not designed to determine if an intervention will work or fail, but whether one intervention is better than another.
This type of study is called a comparative effectiveness trial (CET). However, even these types of studies cannot prove with certainty that one method is more effective than others because there is always some degree of uncertainty surrounding any conclusion.
It may be that both interventions have no effect or that each works very well for certain people, so we can’t make any definitive statements about which is best.
Furthermore, although they aim to compare similar treatments, what people call a treatment may actually do something completely different — it may be placebo medicine.
A placebo is like a fake drug that doctors sometimes give patients for things like pain or nausea, but that does nothing beyond making you feel relaxed. By nature, humans seem to need a sense of control over their environment, so receiving a placebo can help alleviate anxiety and motivate people to try real drugs.
The limitations of animal tests
One major limitation of using animals in studies is that they are not good models for how humans respond to medications or chemicals.
Animals do not share our same physiology, we have different organs, blood types, and genetics, all of which can make it more difficult to determine how drugs work under real-world conditions.
Furthermore, as mentioned before, many ethical issues arise when studying human subjects, so there may be restrictions on what kinds of experiments can be done. Animals also suffer while testing these substances, so depending on the drug being tested, legal requirements may restrict the number of animals used.
There are many reasons why using animals to test medicines is outdated, and it is important to understand them before drawing conclusions about the effects of new technologies.
The limitations of expert opinions
While there are some studies that seem to consistently prove one thing, this is not true across the board. This means that an opinion from someone with little-or no experience using a tool for its purpose may be more trustworthy than someone who has used it for a while.
Opinions can also be influenced by what people believe the tool was designed to do. If most experts agree that something is ineffective, then you will probably choose to use the product or service instead of the opposite.
Something we have seen happen many times is that people will disagree about whether or not a particular technique works because they either don’t understand how the other person uses the tool effectively, or they don’t like how the other person uses the tool.
The limitations of government agencies
Recent debates about whether or not to use social media as a tool for promoting health, wellness, and awareness have focused on how these tools are being used to spread misleading information.
Many people refer to this false information as “fake news,” but it goes much deeper than that.
It is important to remember that not everyone has access to these technologies, even if they work directly from an individual level. Technology companies make money through advertising, so most of us are incentivized to use their services.
Government agencies can be expensive to run, which means the resources needed to promote healthy behaviors are limited.
Agencies may not have enough funding to implement effective strategies, and they may not want to spend the budget on messages that may contradict their political ideologies.
Businesses gain financially from advertisements, so there is also a financial incentive to create products with marketing purposes.
Overall, we cannot say that using technology to help promote overall public health is totally discouraged due to costs or limitations at the governmental level.
However, it is important to recognize the underlying issues when debating the benefits of using technology in our daily lives.
The limitations of social media
One major limitation of social media is that it can be used for harmful purposes. In fact, there are many studies proving that it is impossible to prevent all negative effects of online stalking.
Stalking can include anything from repeated comments under pictures or posts, to going through someone’s private accounts to messages they have sent or received.
It is very common for people who engage in this kind of behavior to feel jealous or angry towards their target. This can lead to verbal harassment or even physical violence.
Because of this, most countries now require users to add at least one personal note to your profile (something like your mother’s maiden name). This prevents some types of stalking due to the limited amount of information available about you.
However, these measures do not apply to other parts of the site such as searching for profiles or sending direct messages. These cannot be restricted because they are anonymous. It is also difficult to tell if someone is using fake details when creating an account.
The limitations of the internet
Recent findings suggest that exposure to too much technology can have negative effects on our health and wellness.
Research indicates that excessive use of digital media (e.g., smartphones, tablets, computer screens) is linked with poor mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression.
Similarly, there are concerns about how screen time may be contributing to overweight and obesity in young people.
Screen time has also been connected to lower levels of physical activity which can contribute to higher rates of chronic disease among the population.
While it’s important to recognize the benefits of modern-day technologies, we should also be aware of their potential risks.
Given that one third of adults in developed countries are now considered digitally overused, it’s an increasingly significant public health issue.
The limitations of progress
Technological advances have always been accompanied by some controversy or another. New innovations are frequently met with skepticism because they may not seem necessary or useful in our present state of technology.
In fact, many believe that we’ve already reached “peak tech” — that is, the technological plateau where things begin to slow down, if not stop completely. Some even argue that we’re in a period of digital de-evolution, where humanity is reverting back to more basic forms of communication and understanding of the world.
This line of thinking was most famously expressed in William Gibson‘s 1984 novel Neuromancer, in which he coined the term “the matrix” to describe an omnipresent computer system that controls almost every aspect of human life. He described this dystopian future as having emerged after what he called the Singularity, when artificial intelligence goes beyond mere automation and takes over control for itself.
While there’s no doubt that AI has made significant strides in recent years, it seems clear that these developments will soon reach a natural limit. Even if we never experience a total takeover, there’s reason to think that we’ll eventually arrive at something like the Matrix once the singularity happens.
The limitations of future scientific discoveries
What most people don’t realize is that even after all the technological advances we have, there are still many things we can’t do due to natural laws. For example, we may be able to create computer programs that help us manage our money, but we cannot make computers think for themselves.
We also may be able to cure some diseases, but we can never fully eliminate them because of basic biological processes.
There will always be something beyond what technology can achieve.
