As our concept of reality becomes more and more dependent on technology, one must ask if we are becoming slaves to the screen. Screen time is no longer limited to watching television but has evolved in the 21st century to include the time we spend on laptops, smartphones and tablets as well. Whilst the use of screen technology is making our lives a lot easier in many ways, do we sometimes need to ask the question: At what cost?
If we consider what it means to be a “slave,” the idea of being such to our technology is not all that ridiculous.
“Slavery” can be defined in a number of ways including “involuntary servitude”, “being unwillingly controlled by another” or “lacking freedom of action”. If we consider the difficulty some people have in going without their phones for a period of time, the way we meet the “demands” or “needs” of our technology through charging batteries or updating software when “told” to do so or even the increasing addiction people have to the use of social media and apps, we have to wonder: Are we really in control?
The following illustrations by Steve Cutts are thought-provoking images about the role of technology in 21st century life. What is your relationship with technology? Do you feel like it has taken away some aspect of your freedom? Do you feel as though it dictates your actions to some extent? Or do feel as though you are still completely in control?
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