Technology Lowering Standards

Technology Lowering Standards

Most would agree that technology has opened up a world of opportunities; however, it has also played an important role in the lowering of our moral standards as a society according to Melissa Weinbrenner (2011), in her journal article “Movies, Model T’s, and Morality:  The Impact of Technology on Standards of Behavior in the Early Twentieth Century.”   She attributes the start of the change in our moral shift mostly due to the introduction and popularity of automobiles and then movies. 

Weinbrenner argues that “living in a technologically oriented society encourages an upwardly leveled society and personal world in a happening environment”(p. 651) and that the “motion pictures fosters group objectivity and self-exposure over self-examination”. She along with other scientists and scholars described the affect as “technology affected social behavior”. She theorizes that when a “society relies upon machines to function, machines actions influence and mold society’s view of reality” (p. 648). 

At first glance this seems insulting to the human race, as if to say that we are incapable of creating and keeping our own personal standards, always giving in to the latest craze or temptations; however, there is significant validity to the premise.  When automobiles were first introduced, they were available only to wealthy and elite classes.  With Henry Ford’s introduction of mass assembly and resulting lower costs making the automobile affordable for most middle class families.  Owning an automobile became the new norm and the distinction now was that the very lower classes were the only ones without one. 

The automobile and the resulting mobility thereby transform the definition of one’s personal “world”.  Before the automobile, one’s “world” consisted mainly of a small circumference around one’s home that could be traveled by foot or horseback within a day’s time.  Where once most were isolated and kept to the oral traditions of folk culture, their world expanded bringing the masses into a popular cultural shift; and the car mobilized and expanded that circle immensely, thereby expanding one’s personal “world”.  What used to be a day trip of a few miles, has extended to hundreds if not thousands of miles or more away, and today the world has literally become our oyster.  This mobilization resulted in an increase in anonymity along with the tendency to loosen one’s standards, since the ramifications of bad behavior are not as obvious or prevalent. 

Society naturally evolved to become less concerned with their actions starting with the new mobility created by the auto. This freedom provided anonymity resulting in relaxed standards that could be cherry picked at will.  Weinbrenner goes on to point out that motion pictures then became popular due in part to the increased mobility afforded by automobiles, and these movies then created a sense of “self-exposure over self-examination,” further explaining the trending of more relaxed morals or standards. 

Another author, Robert Samuels although writing of more current times, supports this type of theory as it relates to newer technologies available in his writing “Computers, the Internet and You.”  He discusses the “new rules for how act and socialize in public” (p. 320).  Where once telephones were used only in private places, technological advances and the cell phone have expanded our world and we can now have private calls and conversations in almost any public places we choose to.  Our moral and personal standards have once again shifted.

The notion that technology can change who we are as a person is uncomfortable at best, but one must only look at the historical facts to find that this theory is not too farfetched after all.  The introduction of the automobile was only the start of a tremendous and ever changing paradigm shift that only started with the ability to move.  Today we live in a technological society where even a simple personal face to face conversation is unusual.  We share our lives, all of it, on Facebook.  We friend people around the world we don’t even know and trust them with intimate details about our lives.  Many are brazen about sharing the most intimate details of their lives that years ago would be considered shameful. 

This study is very important to our future because have become a completely mobile society in every sense of the word and we can learn where we may be headed in the future by looking at our past.   There is no doubt that technology has changed who we are and how we think and act, but I think too that in some ways our connections have separated and isolated us.  This personal detachment has desensitized us as a society and resulted in the new norm.  In a bit of an ironic sense, we even feel the need to communicate at all times to feel connected. 

What connection once meant and what it means today are completely different.  There was a time when dinner with family, a visit by a friend, or a personal hand written letter was a clear indication of caring, kindness, respect and consideration; a true connection of those times. Today the same would be demonstrated through a text message, a tweet, or even a thumbs up “like” on Facebook.  The personalization is gone.  The new personalization is a public display of almost anything.

Technology is a great thing, but in my opinion we have lost something else in the process.  They say that life comes around full circle and I can only hope that here will be no exception and that eventually people will miss that personal touch.  I believe that too much of a good thing can be bad, no matter what it is, and that good life is all about good balance.  I long to see us go back to some of those “old school” kindnesses from days gone by because no form of technology will ever replace a mother’s hug, a letter or visit from a friend afar, or a child’s real smile.   These are and always will be truly priceless.

References

Browne, R. B. (2005). Profiles of popular culture: A reader. (pp. 46-53). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Samuels, R. (2012).  Computers, The Internet and You.  Common Culture (pp. 319-322). Santa Barbara, CA: Pearson.

Weinbrenner, M. (2011). Movies, Model T’s and Morality:  The Impact of Technology on Standard of Behavior in the Early Twentieth Century.  The Journal of Popular Culture. Volume 44, pp. 647-659.