What is this technology stuff doing to us?

Recently, I have immersed myself in various threads of email conversations with different people, some have been for academic purposes, talking about proposals and building on certain ideas kicking around in the 'ol noggin, and other conversations have been just for the pure goodness of connecting with people. Beneath and beyond all of my ranting and raving about how the technology of this world - the computers, the iphones, the gidgets and gadgets, the facebooks and youtubes, the tweets and the twats - is simply altering our very understanding of what it is to be human, in a bad way. I have chosen no particular side to this matter yet, and I don't think that it is possible for me to do so. It seems that the pure traditionalist in me, the part that finds comfort in the idea and practice of a Quaker lifestyle belongs to the same me that also holds great value in technologies of today, or rather, the technological capacities of today. (I conjure an image of a Zen monk meditating with earbuds and MacBook).

Technology, - and I apply this term knowing how broadly overused and ambiguous it truly is - like all things has its limitations, but instead of turning the spotlight on the product maybe it is more appropriate to consider its producers. We humans are constantly testing our perceived boundaries and limitations especially, at this time, in the realm of rapid technological development, and we are expanding these boundaries at rate exponential to the rate of our own social, inter-personal, and biological developments. This poses a problem for us (and the world, of course, but let's be honest, what we are really fighting for is our continued existence on this planet) for too many reasons to highlight now. But a main concern is this: we need to learn the art of saying "no." Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should, right?

The first and foremost issue of knowing when to say this nifty negative (as in negation) word is neither involved with saving the environment, nor is it about choosing to build a (more than one) city below sea level, etc. It is purely about our internal willingness and understanding that "no" is necessary. Without no, you don't have yes. Without true, you don't have false. Without good, no bad. And on, and on. But this is a matter that occurs initially with one's own individual self, and if an individual is complacent and unaware then the collective will most likely have some problems as well, and thus the snowball starts to roll.

It's not all bad though. At least we know, er, at least some of us know that its up to us, and we need to change us to achieve a balance with everything else. And now that we do know that we are responsible, and not the technology, we can look at one or two of this things that is really great with this techno/info revolution. Interweb dialogue. Emails. The delete button. Thanks to these three things we now have created an interconnected global community, a worldwide brain, a gargantuan human nervous system, and we can converse with each other thoughtfully by deleting what we think may not be the wisest thing to say. Email and other forms of *click-send* communication are instantaneous thought packets that can be edited and reworked to the last "farewell". The type of dialogue that takes place allows people to really think about what is said before it's sent and it provides time for the recipient to reflect without responding immediately. Essentially, we are able to think and reflect, write and re-write before it is all said and done. This, I believe, is a true gift, and I would argue that it is a gift that presents us with the possibility of learning how to choose wiser words. And then again, you can't have wise words without stupid ones...