Some of man's inventions have mainly been an extension of the human mind or human interaction. Take the personal computer for example, it was made to possess a processor mimicking the cognitive centre of the brain; Read Only Memory is akin to our genetic make up that cannot be altered. So if technology is an extension of humanity, it's purpose to do some form of work for us thereby establishing a master-slave relationship. Man being the master, technology being the slave.
Artificial intelligence on which the movie "Terminator" is based maybe decades or centuries away but it seems that while we went about making things that are supposed to make life easier and more enjoyable we flipped the master-slave balance in favour of technology. The smartphone is meant to be a problem solver in quick reach yet we find ourselves wholly dependent on it. Social networking websites started out as ways to connect people separated by vast distances but have slowly replaced the need for actual physical interaction. The Internet, which I call the ring leader, was built as a way to interconnect the globe for information sharing but now we spend a good portion of our waking breaths doing something that involves the Internet. If your service provider suffered an outage right now that was projected to last a week, would you just say OK or think about switching?
An argument may be put forth that there is no master-slave relationship, only pockets of people addicted to technology and that argument may have merit. Some are able to use technology when they absolutely need to but from my observation a good number have already fallen victim to this silent addiction. Need proof? Download an application that monitors how often you unlock your phone to use it. If you're like me you'll be astounded by the results.
The best way to make sure you don't fall into this master-slave trap is by practising disconnection; time away from technology be it hours or days. Then you'll discover that you only us gadgets when absolutely. Make technology work for you and not the other way around.
On which side do you sit...the master or the slave?
