The “enabling” factor
I think the most under-recognized or under-appreciated thing about our touted technology is the “enabling” factor.
We tend to focus on each advance, improvement, convenience in isolation. The benefits of each one seem obvious, clearcut. If I save a trip to the bank because I can do a mobile deposit via my phone, then I’ve obviously saved time (and also saved gasoline, etc. by not making the trip).
Well, if we automated functions via higher technology and then kept our standards of production, consumption, accomplishment, and aspirations the same, the higher productivity ought to allow us to have more time, more leisure; fewer task-related, fewer working hours.
But we don’t handle the situation that way.
If industrial and domestic productivity has gone up by orders of magnitude, why are we working at least as many hours as was the norm a hundred years ago? why do we seem to be more stressed than ever?
One reason is that “labor saving” technology does not really save as much labor as the mystique would have us believe. Each new device has its own issues and, overall, the technology comes with preoccupations:
Beyond that, the ease of doing this or that induces us to figure we can do more. The combination of technology and advertising encourages us to get more ambitious. For our vacations we have the sense that we can go farther, enjoy more exotic (and more expensive) amenities. The standards ratchet up. Alaska cruises. Destination weddings.
Internet at our fingertips. We talk more. We watch more. Each gadget and service may be cheaper and more powerful than the last, but the very idea that we’re saving money and time has an “enabling” consequence.
That Alaska cruise seems pretty easy to book. It’s just a hop to Seattle, the package takes care of all the arrangements. Ten days of luxury and exotic dining, entertainment, vistas. Sounds relaxing and affordable.
It’s much. The technology enables much. Each new “can do” results in more life-complexity and, ultimately, more expense.
Mass market advertising and technological facilitation is a toxic combination. They induce and they enable. They prey on an unfortunate tendency to not be able to resist doing too much; to fill every minute and spend every dollar. That’s why many of us are not, after all, saving time or money.
