In this article I would like to nourish an idea that has settled in my mind and share it with you through an analysis of humanity and the complex fabrics that we are composed of.
Over centuries philosophers and scientists have been extrapolating historical information in their research to identify and formulate a clear reasoning behind the evolution of the human species, more literally, where exactly we came from. Humans and monkeys are both primates, but we are not descended from monkeys or any other primate living today. We do share a common ape ancestor with chimpanzees that lived between 6 and 8 million years ago. This was the theory that was accepted and conveyed in our teachings of natural history. Since then, we developed cognitive abilities that have been proven to be greatly superior to that of our ancestors, as well as our physical appearance, which has greatly developed.
However today I wanted to present a theory which states that we as humanity have reached the vertex of our graph representing our development. And I believe that the one main source of the rotation in our humanitarian spectrum for development is caused by technology.
Over the past few decades, as humans have gradually become more enrolled in technology and its unique ways, it has taken on a life of its own. Most importantly, it has made various vital changes that have affected many aspects of our life. The changes that affected us the most were physical and psychological that have seemingly changed the pathway of humanity and where we are headed as a species.
Now let's unpack and understand the two changes.
The psychological changes that humanity is experiencing:
Let’s understand the fact that in order to survive in the stone ages (that began around about 2.6 million years ago), for example, it was naturally required for each and every individual to have great physical and mental abilities. There is evidence that the average sapien’s brain has actually decreased since those times.
With the arrival of industry and agricultural communities, individuals could get away with knowing less because they could rely on other people's abilities to survive.
Collectively, human societies today know far more than stone age communities. But at the individual level ancient foragers were the most knowledgeable and skillful people in history.
Now with the rapid soar of technology and the dominant role that it has played in our everyday lives, nearly our every move and thought, involves technology in one way or another.
As per eMarketer, the average US adult spends 3 hours and 43 minutes on their mobile devices a day. That's roughly 50 days in a year. Teens spend an average of 7 hours and 22 minutes on their phones a day, and children ages 8 to 12 are not far behind at four hours and 44 minutes daily, according to a new report by Common Sense Media (a nonprofit that promotes safe technology and media for children).
When working on a school project, students often search up facts and answers to their inquiry questions. To find the closest subway station we turn to the Internet, and in general if any questions do arise we go straight to Google. This pattern can be noticed on a daily basis in our lives.
The help technology provides is insane, but so is our dependence on it.
There is no scientific evidence that shows that smartphones and digital technology do harm to our biological cognitive abilities, but we are getting lazier and the use we make out of those cognitive abilities are decreasing because many individuals know that their computer can think for them. This creates a domino effect which strongly impacts us. If we aren't consistently training our brains to do what? then this will slow down our cognitive growth and create a barrier for the development as a community.
The physical changes that humanity is experiencing:
The abnormal postural positions to which your body contorts during the use of technology have the potential to put stress on the spine, shoulder muscles, and neck; people are becoming more likely to hunch their shoulders as they stare down towards their laps or hands, habitually creating poor posture. Cell phone use like this can lead to arthritis, nerve pain, headaches and more. The human head weighs about a dozen pounds (around 5kg). But as the neck bends forward and down, the weight on the cervical spine begins to increase. Something scientists call “text neck” is becoming an epidemic that can wreck your spine.
That’s the burden that comes with staring at a smartphone — the way millions do for hours every day.
Us evolving to who we are today has included our postures straightening out and our cognitive abilities expanding and becoming much more advanced than ever before. Based on the analysis gathered above and the data provided, we can deduce that both of those physical and psychological advancements have slowly started hinting at taking a 180 degree turn and are slowly now advancing in the opposite direction.
It is an intriguing idea that can have many contradictions. It is a turn that is yet unclear and an idea that is yet to be proven right or wrong based on our future, the future of humanity. So are we regressing?
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