Many people may argue that technology is primarily advantageous, especially since it has furthered medical treatments, mass communication, and accessible information. Nonetheless, I often wonder if life within the machine is dehumanizing us. Although the benefits are clear, electronics hinder our relationships and create an illusion of a closely connected society.

Our dependency on technology is destructive to our relationships, especially when it causes the loss of all desire for social interaction. Surely, the newest electronics are enjoyable and useful but they merely foster our isolation from other people. They allow us to withdraw from reality and enter a virtual world. We can easily become engrossed with technology and enter a trance where we are not being thoughtful or loving. As a result, we are not concerned with our personal identity or relationships, let alone the meaning of life. There simply isn't enough time to think or experience intimacy within relationships when we are preoccupied with video games, television and movies. In my opinion, without doing either, we are not truly living, but why eat dinner with a friend when you can lead an army of forty-thousand soldiers in your pajamas, right? Wrong. At the core of our being, we are relational. We were made to experience love, kindness, joy, and altruism. Ultimately, virtual worlds may appear liberating but they keep us merely preoccupied and distracted from living.

Technology also encourages superficial relationships. It turns our attention away from truly getting to know one another, even when we are in the same room, and influences us to become preoccupied with electronics. We get together with friends and family to play video games, watch movies, view television, and listen to music. We even spend excessive amounts of money to sit in movie theatres without engaging in conversation. When much more of our time is spent with technology rather than with one another, our relationships merely touch the surface of true intimacy. For instance, after viewing a film together, two friends might speak lightheartedly about the music, characters, and plot development. They may meet to engage in electronic forms of entertainment and casual conversation so often that it has become routine and still not know each other at all. If their attention has been completely focused on entertaining each other, they have not experienced acceptance, trust, or honestly within their friendship. Our thoughts often revolve entirely around being entertained and, consequently, we are satisfied with artificial relationships which are devoid of affection and intimacy. In any event, technology allows our bodies to be side-by-side and our hearts to be far from one another at the same time.

Technology negatively affects relationships and encourages superficiality, isolation, and absent-mindedness. However, there is nothing inherently wrong with technology; it is our greed for instant gratification and convenience that hinders our relationships. Entertainment is evil simply because we allow it to be. We choose to overly depend on technology and ignore the utter satisfaction of social interaction and intimacy within relationships. In order to fully experience life, we must shift our focus from being preoccupied with technology to connecting deeply with one another.