Globalization & Me: Addiction Through Technology

In today’s global society, technology is the virtual conduit that connects geographically (and, often, socially) disparate populations. Indeed, technology provides the instantaneous ability for persons of all walks of life to communicate, disseminate information, collaborate, and experience a variety of emotions virtually. According to Choi & Berger (2009), the “global internet, and mobile technologies allow the dissemination of countless images and stories in nanoseconds, including scientific and historic records”. Along with the nanospeed that technology provides, it provides individuals the ability to undergo a parallel virtual universe where the user is not discriminated against because of their immutable characteristics or the societal hierarchies in which they are born. “The equalization phenomenon describes how individual differences with regard to power, gender, and social status are diminished due to the relative anonymity of the user” (Hertlein, 2012). The anonymity of the user is the very aspect that draws billions of users to partake in the global network of the World Wide Web.

Through the evolution of society, globalization, and technological advancements, technology is now influencing the way that families establish rules, roles, boundaries, and interactions with each other and the world around them. However, as there is global shift to a technologically unified society, one must look at the implications that immediacy, accessibility, and convenience has on the biological, emotional, and physical development of our society. Just like everything else, there needs to be a balance with technology—or there will be negative side effects.

What is addiction?

The word addiction was derived from the Latin term addictus meaning enslaved or sacrifice. According to Socio-Psych Consultant Jawad Fatayer (2008), “addiction is a pathological love between the person and the addictive object, be it a substance (such as nicotine, food, alcohol, or heroine, etc.) or an event (such as gambling, work, love or the internet, etc.). Addiction is categorized as a human phenomenon that manifests through a socio-cultural intervention caused by the cultural standards established consciously, subconsciously, and/or unconsciously by society and the negative effects of culture and society on individual behavior. Fatayer (2008) categories addiction into three major conditions: social cognition, vulnerable emotional make-up, and possible chemical imbalance in the body. Thus, addiction occurs when an individual undergoes either a physical or emotional change that affects their brain through neurophysiological mechanisms. According to Holden (2001), “new knowledge about the brain’s reward system much gained by super refined brain scan technology, suggests that as far as the brain is concerned, a reward’s a reward, regardless of whether it comes from a chemical or experience”.

How is addiction classified?

According to Fatayer (2008), there are four types of addictions: alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. The alpha addiction is categorized as substances that involve impacting the physical health of the body such as: food, nicotine, caffeine, etc. The beta addictions involve substances that impact functions of the mind such as: medications, sedatives, cocaine, marijuana, etc. The gamma addictions involve only the mind functions via interactions with the environment such as: internet, pornography, online games, driving, and gambling. The final categorized addiction—delta addiction—involves the combination of two addictions that impact both the mind and body such as: nicotine and alcohol, food and work, drugs and gambling, internet and alcohol, etc. eurologically speaking, research has found technology can be as addicting as heroin. According to Fatayer (2008), “addicts of this type (gamma) describe the adrenaline and the dopamine shooting in their brain when they participate in the addictive event just like the heroin addict gets the high from the needle, but it’s all a mental generated through cognitive and emotional processes that take place in a person’s mental and emotional make-up”.

Past and present research.

Research on addictive behaviors goes as far back to the 1930s. At that time, researchers believed that addiction occurred because that individual genetically was prone to be morally flawed. However, in the 1980s the view of addiction transformed from the 1930s theory to one where addiction was thought to be categorized as a chronic disease. Just as cardiovascular disease damages the heart, addiction hijacks the brain of the individual. Research has shown that addicts go through a both a structural and functional change in the brain. Recent neuroimaging technologies have proven that pleasurable activities such as sex, gambling, and internet can be just as addictive due to the way that the pleasurable activity causes a surge of dopamine to the nucleus accumbens, which in turn changes the activity from a liking to a wanting and needing event.

According to Hertlien (2012), a study in 2010 found that over 72% of US citizens over the age of 3 used the internet. In that same study, over 75% of households had members who participate in video games. “There is an internet abuse, the country’s fastest growing addiction. But whether such a phenomenon exists is something about which scientists—if not therapists—are cautious” (Holden, 2001). The global society, particularly the generation natives through social media and networks are becoming more and more obsessed with the idea of fame. According to Choi & Berger (2009), “a survey done by the Washington Post and Harvard University in 2005 [found that] 31 percent of American teenagers think they will become famous one day”.

The recovery from an addictive behavior is a long, exhausting journey. “The long-lived neural changes that underpin addictive behavior-—exemplified by the relapses see many human addicts even after years of abstinence— are becoming clearer thanks to knowledge gleaned from learning, and the memory field” (Nestler, 2001). Recent studies have found the relapse rate for addicts to be as high as 60% within the first year. Presently, there is a nanotechnology approach to doing addiction—however, what about cyber or technology addiction? You cannot treat the addict with their vice.

The implications of technology.

Boundaries are becoming blurred between work and home due to the constant open access of technology. No longer are individuals able to escape the daily rigor of work once they leave the office. The very accessibility that we cherish in technology is also becoming our downfall in our own family relationships. “Advances in technology also mean increased accessibility. People can access the internet from a variety of places” (Cooper, 2002).

Children are becoming more and more desensitized to violence, lewd material, and pornographic-related images. According to Ybarra & Mitchell (2005), “at least 21% of the youth report having viewed pornographic material on the Internet”. It is becoming ever critical for parents to evaluate the boundaries to promote safety of the youth.

Author’s Reflection.

We as a society are lost without technology. Everything we do is guided by some form of technology. From looking up directions while driving in our car, to writing an e-mail, to calling to make a dinner reservation, following family members across variety of countries whereabouts on social media, etc. Technology plays an integral role in the dissemination of information and the ability to feel connected.

Through my study of globalization, I have found with the new integration of technology onto my own cellular device that I am spending countless hours per week perusing the social networks for professional development, curriculum ideas, social media updates, and just out of sheer boredom. I have caught myself searching through the social media sites without consciously even being aware that I had picked up my phone in the first place.

Through my own reflection, I was inspired to go into a journey to find out more about the implications that technology addiction has on the individual, how much research has been completed, and what implications will technology have onto our future. It was rather daunting to find such minimal information on the stages, and requirements of recovery for a technology addict.

Having an addict within the family does not just impact that individual, but everyone within the family—whether the addiction be drugs, body dysmorphic, gambling, alcohol, or technology. I am fearful that we may be in the midst of developing a generation that outside of their virtual reality cannot coexist among their peers. I noticed from my own students that they prefer to communicate via text messaging-—rather than hold a conversation in person. The virtual world provides individual with a different form of socialization, interaction, and communication. Although technology empowers us to be able to disseminate information, and collaborate globally, we at the same time are losing experiences where we can interact with our present reality.

Technology is the virtual conduit that connects geographically disparate populations that provides use users with the instantaneous ability to communicate, disseminate information, collaborate, and experience a variety of emotions virtually; however, the averse implications that technology has both biologically and neurologically on the body may not be worth the reward at the risk of being forever enslaved to it.

References

Barnstone, T. (2000). Technology as Addiction. Technology and Culture, 41(1), 190-193. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25147494

Choi, C., & Berger, R. (2009). Ethics of Global Internet, Community and Fame Addiction. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(2), 193-200. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41315825

Cooper, A. (2002). Sex and the Internet: A Guidebook for Clinicians. New York: Brunner-Routledge.

Fatayer, J. (2008). Addiction Types: A Clinical Sociology Perspective. Journal of Applied Social Science, 2(1), 88-93. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23549240

Hertlein, K. (2012). Digital Dwelling: Technology in Couple and Family Relationships. Family Relations, 61(3), 374-387. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41495216

Holden, C. (2001). 'Behavioral' Addictions: Do They Exist? Science, 294(5544), 980-982. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3084922

Nestler, E. (2001). Total Recall: The Memory of Addiction. Science, 292(5525), 2266-2267. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3083868

Ybarra, M.L., & Hara, K. (2005). Computer-mediated relationship development: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11, 133-152.