How Technology and Television Affect the Human Mind and Senses

Technology and media entertainment have become ubiquitous in our lives today. Almost everything we do daily involves interacting with some level of technology. Technology, and the companies producing and controlling that technology, also mediate our daily experience on a subtle but impactful level. Despite all the benefits technology seems to have given us, it has also robbed us of the real and natural human experience. We are the first species ever on Earth to have created this vast disconnect between ourselves and nature., and this is destroying our minds, bodies and souls. We are essentially becoming zombies, robbed of free will and sensation and constantly hungry for passive entertainment.

Humans have a constant need for entertainment and stimulation. The very thing making our brains so much more sophisticated than most other creatures is also an important part of our entertainment downfall. Technology provides the connections, stimulation and distraction our brains crave. This is one reason humans seems to consume entertainment media at such an unprecedented rate. Technology also gives us greater access to this stimulation than ever before. Even a few hundred years ago, a play or performance was an extremely special event and was often something enjoyed regularly by only those who were very wealthy. Now most members of our society can buy a cheap mobile device and watch YouTube on free wifi.

With such limited historical access to passive entertainment options, humans had no choice but to go out and be productive, explore and expand their minds and creativity in other ways. The majority of these ways involving being outside, learning about and exploring nature. Easy access to technology and entertainment has allowed us to get mental stimulation in easier ways, but this does not mean it is healthier for our minds or bodies. It is quite the opposite. Just like going for a run at the park may be less comfortable or more difficult than sitting at home, it has health benefits that are not always noticeable right away.

Constant consumption of entertainment media and the vast organizations connected to it have stolen each of our human senses. Human brains, especially in children, grow and change based on what is input into the senses. The media can and does control the mind by shaping how it develops. People who would otherwise be independent, self-motivated and intelligently questioning individuals become passive and dependent on the technology for stimulation, satisfaction and comfort. This makes technology and entertainment, in the purest sense, like a drug. Companies use this drug to ensure their control over the masses.

Sight is one of the strongest human senses. Human brains are highly visual, and a great deal of mental function is devoted to processing, understanding and remembering what we see. Television and videos have taken over this sense, especially for kids. Just about every kid in the modern day watches YouTube with very little moderation on what they access. These videos become the focus of attention and rob even children of a rich or realistic visual experience.What the world really looks like becomes taken over and mediated by television. This is especially true of graphic or violent imagery. While research does not support that watching violence or playing violent games causes children or adults to become violent, it does numb the brain to the impact of these images and experiences. A person who constantly experiences visual violence on television may not react strongly or at all to actual violence when they see it, and they may not develop sympathy for victims of violence. This disconnects them from community and the desire to help and protect others.

Musical entertainment is more accessible with technology than ever before in history. Just about everyone walks around with an iPod or similar device and earbuds plugged into their ears. This creates isolation and ‘disconnect’ from the environment. People are no longer interested in absorbing the quiet and comforting sounds of nature. They are no longer interested in real conversation with others or the chance to connect positively with a stranger.Controlling the hearing sense also controls our ability to have silence. True silence is something that many young people today can no longer tolerate in their lives. Their need for background sound or music is constant. This deprives them of the ability to simply sit in peace and contemplate, reflect or meditate.

Technology and media impact touch both directly and indirectly. Touch is an important human sensation linked to happiness, comfort and the ability to connect with and trust others. The cell phone has taken this sense in several ways. First, we are constantly touching and holding our technology. The touchscreen receives more attention from sensitive fingers and hands than just about anything else. This technology is flat, cold and lifeless. We are deprived of the sensation of real touch found by making contact with living things and elements of nature.Indirectly, cell phones steal the sensation of touch by making physical contact no longer necessary. Before phones, people had to interact in person or they were forced to write letters by hand. Almost nobody today does this. People may even send text messages or make calls to family members when they are both inside the same house. By not being physically present with someone, a rift and disconnect with that person is created. Many people say that technology has given us the chance to be more connected than ever before. That is true insofar as the amount or ease of connection is concerned, but the connection made is shallower and not as lasting or important. As with many things, we have settled for cheap and easy connection rather than high quality.

Our sense of taste has been entirely stolen by food manufacturers and companies with little interest in our health or safety. While food may seem to taste better today than ever before, most of that taste is an illusion of chemicals and fake ingredients that trick our bodies. This has an impact on health and our connection to nature in big ways.First, our health is destroyed by modern processed foods, and often we don’t even realize it. Our minds have developed to equate good taste with health benefits, but healthy food is not usually cheap food. To produce cheap food in vast quantities, we have sacrificed quality and taste. Food manufacturers know full well that processed food doesn’t taste very good at all and nobody would eat it if they didn’t add flavorings. Our sense of taste adapts to the presence of these chemicals and additives, and we lose the ability to taste without them. People who constantly eat processed or flavored foods no longer find healthy real foods appetizing because their sense of taste has been so corrupted. This has obvious negative impacts on health and reinforces the consumption of unhealthy foods.

Technology has also taken away our connection to our food. We no longer really understand where our food comes from or how it’s made. The push towards organic food is a way to fight back against this, but generations worth of damage has already been done to our bodies and the environment by the food industry. We have lost all respect for where food comes from or what it takes, and costs, to produce real and good food. Instead of paying more for organic and whole foods now, we pay more in medical costs later. This is exactly how the system wants it to be. Big pharma makes its money somehow.

Our sense of smell has also been corrupted by the food and retail industries. Science has shown us that smell has a huge impact on our subconscious mind. Companies use this to silently control what we do and buy. Many of the smells we encounter in fast food restaurants or retail stores are entirely fake. We aren’t’ smelling the actual food or products because those natural smells aren’t really that good. The companies give us fake smells to lure us in to make purchases of inferior products.Air pollution is also rampant in the world today. It destroys our health and our ability to appreciate the real smells of nature. Many people today are trying to escape to the mountains and wilderness for a very good reason. They are the places you can truly take a deep breath and feel good about it.

The regular five senses have an impact on how the brain develops and makes connections, but technology may also be impacting the brain and our bodies in ways that are invisible and impossible to really detect.The impact of wifi and various electronic signals on our brains and senses is not fully understood. We know that these electromagnetic waves are passing through us all the time. We know that these waves have some impact on electrons, molecules and electrical activity. Our brains are a combination of electrical and chemical signals, so it makes sense that these waves may have some subtle impact on how we think, how our brains work and possibly our ability to access the deeper parts of our thinking.

There is no doubt that technology has caused a change in our society and ourselves that is negative in many ways. It is long past time for us to wake up and realize what technology, media and big companies that control them are doing to us. Technology can be used for good and positive purpose but only if we exert control on it and ensure that it works for us and deepens our connections and understanding of the world instead of isolating us and keeping us shallow and needy. The zombie apocalypse may very well be upon us, but it’s not caused by a virus, and it’s much more insidious than we thought.

Bottom line: Although technology is making us smarter with information, the lack of human connection goes against all laws of nature and is destroying overall human consciousness.