People often say that technological progress is a good thing and it has lifted billions of people out of poverty. There is some truth to that, but it is arguable whether modern technology has really been a net improvement to humanity, and what the future holds may be even more frightening. Let's explore this subject.
Humans have had primitive technology since the stone age, from spears used to hunt animals, to swords for waging war, to plows and grain mills for agriculture. Modern technology however is something new. We can say it started with the first industrial revolution in the late 1700s when humans began utilizing fossil fuels, mainly coal, as energy to power machines such as trains and ships.
We currently live in a somewhat capitalist economic system which requires infinite growth to sustain itself. This growth happens because people trade and consume more products and services on the free market. To manufacture these products and provide services, and to transport them to the market place, we need natural resources and energy. So this economic model drives the unending consumption of nature. Even digital products and services require these resources to build and power the server farms that generate them. For example a single bitcoin transaction consumes up to 1200 kilowatt hours of energy, which is more than it takes to heat my small apartment for a month during winter.
In nature everything is recycled and reused by animals, plants or microorganisms, it's called the cycle of life. But this artificial man-made system that we have created produces enormous amounts of waste, much of which is not recycled, it is discarded into a landfills, thrown into rivers or oceans, or burned, producing more pollution in the air. Humans never really lived in harmony with nature, we were always at war with the environment, but in the past some kind of balance was maintained.
There is a day of the year called Earth Overshoot Day, it was first crossed in the 1970s. This is the day of the year when human civilization has consumed more natural resources than nature regenerates. We have become more efficient at using resources, but we are still effectively eating up the foundations of the natural world due to our overconsumption. Eventually this will cause severe problems as without a functioning biosphere the Earth would be more like Mars or Venus, or something in between. Basically just another lifeless rock floating in space.
Modern technology has also allowed humans to live longer. But on the flip side it has also made us less healthy, as we do not exercise and eat like we used to for most of human history. Basically our lifespans may have increased due to medicine and other technological advancements, but our morbidity has also gone up, meaning we have more chronic health problems and as a result suffer more. In the past humans with severe health problems would have just died, but today they are artificially kept alive.
Another problem with advanced technology is how it has affected farm animals. In the past livestock were able to roam around somewhat freely in fields, eating and pooping and doing their thing, before they were turned into food for humans. Some lucky ones still do this. But today we have these hellholes called factory farms which do not have any regard for the well being of livestock. They are subjected to nightmarish living conditions because it is more financially profitable. Livestock account for most of the mammalian biomass on Earth, they are even more numerous than humans. So we could argue that modern technology has increased the net suffering of animals, they might even be worse off than wild animals, who often get eaten alive.
Society is also socially rotting from the effects of modern technology. High trust societies in the Western world are in decline, the relationship market is disrupted and people are more lonely and depressed than ever before.
When I was a kid, the internet was still in its infancy, yes I am that old. To stave off boredom, me and my friends would hang out, go to parties and drive our mopeds around town. I did also play some video games, made websites and chatted on IRC, but I wasn't a total social recluse in my youth.
However nowadays there is a growing class of social recluses called hikikomoris who don't have social connections and rarely leave their homes. Hikikomori is a Japanese word that means pulling inward or being confined. In Japan there's over 1 million of them, but this phenomenon is becoming more common in the US and Europe as well. I believe the internet in particular and modern technology in general is enabling this type of social isolation. It's just easier to live your life on the web and cope with the boredom of isolation with video games and doomscrolling social media, even if you are still lonely and depressed.
Social media can help to connect people around the world who share the same interests and opinions, this is both a benefit and a downside in some ways. Of course it is more enjoyable to interact with people who are on the same wavelength as you. But because of this there is less of an incentive to spend time with people in your local community, all of whom might not share your viewpoints. This may play a part in degrading high trust societies, and as a result we are becoming more anonymous, distant and cold.
Additionally social media and the algorithms that drive them may be creating online echo chambers where people are not as often exposed to different opinions and ideas. This may lead people to become less tolerant of others and more stuck in their own viewpoints.
Online social relationships are also more transient from my experience, and people might not value them as much as those formed in real life. Because on social media you can just block or ghost someone, and find another person to talk with in a few minutes. So there is less incentive to build and maintain strong relationships, which can take time, effort and compromise.
Then there's also the relationship market which has been significantly changed due to social media and online dating apps. According to this graph, people in the United States are now meeting online much more often than before, for example in 2020 over 50% of couples met online.
Apps like Tinder also enable people to accept or reject a person in seconds based on a few photos and a short bio that few people bother to read. People don't really get to know each other anymore. I believe physical looks were always somewhat important, but they are a hundred times more important today than when I grew up in the early 2000s. The competition in dating is much higher than before, as dating apps and social media can connect people from all over the world, whereas before the competition was in most cases restricted to your social group and immediate geographical area. It's particularly tough for young men, as can be seen by the rise in young male virginity.
Basically I think there are many wonderful things about technology. For one I can make these kind of videos and share my thoughts with people from around the world. I also don't have to die from dysentery or due to a blood infection because I stepped on a nail. If I was thrown back into the 1300s without any modern conveniences I probably would not enjoy it either. But the situation may be different if I was born and raised during those times, perhaps my overall life quality would be better. I would maybe have more purpose and meaning in my life, whereas now I feel quite useless and like more of a burden on society.