Technology In Your Relationship

The average American interacts with some kind of electronic device during his or her free time outside of work multiple hours per day. Ask yourself the question who is controlling how you spend your time? You or your computer, your smart phone, and/or your TV?

Is technology helping to save your relationship?

I think the digital world was invented as tools to enhance our human existence not to enslave us, but I could be wrong. What I do know for sure is this: Technology is impacting relationships, and everyone needs to be vigilant in order to make sure that the impact is positive rather than negative.

When you and your partner are at the dining table texting your friends, you may be side-by-side, but your play is parallel, not interactive. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that it’s otherwise.
I’d like to recommend the insightful book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology Than From Each Other by Sherry Turkle, who is a renowned technology and society specialist at MIT. Robotic partners, as lovers and companions, and robotic pets are part of the future picture of our world. Will we forget that robots aren’t real humans or animals, no matter how vivid our imaginations are?

When you are seduced by technology more than you are by your partner, you might do an assessment of how you spend your time. What is preventing you from having a vibrant relationship? Is the culprit technology? If so, do something about it. Remember what Albert Einstein said, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction.”