The Dystopians:
Approaching Technology From a Critical Perspective
Home
Introduction
Confronting the Machine
Visions of the Future
The Neo-Luddites
What's Wrong With Technology?
Cyberspace
The Digital Divide
Technology and Community
Technology and Happiness
Conclusion
References
View of Africa From Clementine
Introduction
Confronting the Machine
Visions of the Future
The Neo-Luddites
What's Wrong With Technology?
Cyberspace
The Digital Divide
Technology and Community
Technology and Happiness
Conclusion
References
View of Africa From Clementine
Technology and Happiness
The World Values Survey has been attempting to quantify human happiness in relation to cultural and economic factors since 1981. The data shows a clear link between technological progress and wealth on the one hand, and human happiness on the other: rich countries are happier than poor countries. The relationship, however, is curvolinear-- once a certain threshold is reached (approximately $10,000 USD), the curve levels off and, in many cases, the level of happiness in fact begins to drop19. In other words, once we feel assured of basic survival, happiness no longer depends on technology or wealth, but rather on other factors, presumably family and community engagement, personal accomplishment, and so on.
Howard Rheingold, author and former editor of the Whole Earth Catalogue, rightly asserts the subjectivity of measuring happiness: "I resent the shallowness of the critics who say that if you sit in front of a computer and participate in online conversations worldwide you are not leading an authentic life."20 At the same time, the World values Survey makes an important point: assurance of survival is a basic requirement for anybody's definition of happiness. Nobody wants to starve to death. Increasing the overall happiness of the world, then, would seem to involve not using great amounts of resources for creating more and more advanced technologies for wealthy nations, but rather assisting poorer communities in reaching a level of assurance in their own survival. However, while proponents of technology invoke equality and universality as prime features of Cyberspace, often in support of their own self-interest (as Bill Gates said, " "There won't be anything we won't say to people to try and convince them that our way is the way to go."21), global inequalities in wealth are rarely mentioned. If new technological advances increase the overall level of happiness of the global population, it will be by happenstance, not by design.
