Digital design guide for humanity Novak Perovic

In the fight to stay healthy, technology can give us an edge in our personal and professional lives. We can use our digital devices to improve our diets, track our fitness efforts, or help us with medication compliance.

When it comes to women’s and men’s primary care, Portland physicians are increasingly seeing patients who exhibit signs of technology overuse, particularly with the current reliance on smartphones in our day-to-day lives. After all, Americans spend nearly 12 hours a day looking at multiple digital screens—and that number keeps going up. A recent Deloitte study found that 60 percent of U.S. adults ages 18-34 admitted to smartphone overuse. This leads us to ask the question, “What are some negative effects of technology?”

Sleep disorders

The vast majority of people have a habit of sleeping with their devices. One study found that 71 percent of smartphone owners keep their phone next to their bed at night to ensure they don’t miss a thing. Another study found that over 40 percent of bedside smartphone users wakeup from noises or lighting from notifications coming from their device.

It might seem like a harmless habit, but late-night technology use can interfere with your ability to sleep. According to a Gallup poll, 40 percent of Americans say they’re not getting enough sleep. The National Sleep Foundation and Swedish researchers discovered a link between heavy cell phone use and increased sleep disorders in both men and women.

“Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed at night suppresses the release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, enhances alertness and shifts circadian rhythms to a later hour—making it more difficult to fall asleep,” says Charles Czeisler, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

How to avoid sleep disruption?

To avoid sleep disruption, try replacing late-night technology use with sleep-conducive activities such as taking a bath or reading in bed. Resisting the urge to keep your phone on your nightstand can also help minimize nighttime interruptions. Here are other tips to help you reduce the temptation of bringing your smartphone to bed with you:

• Turn off your Wi-Fi or use an internet blocker
• Listen to a podcast
• Put your phone somewhere you can’t reach but can still hear
• Track your usage and set a limit
• Turn off unnecessary notifications
• Set your screen to night mode

Isolation

Although social media is designed to bring people together, it can often have the opposite effect.

A 2017 study in young adults aged 19–32 years found that people with higher social media use were more than three times as likely to feel socially isolated than those who did not use social media as often.

Depression and anxiety

The authors of a 2016 systematic reviewTrusted Source discussed the link between social networks and mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.

Their research found mixed results. People who had more positive interactions and social support on these platforms appeared to have lower levels of depression and anxiety.

However, the reverse was also true. People who perceived that they had more negative social interactions online and who were more prone to social comparison experienced higher levels of depression and anxiety.

So, while there does appear to be a link between social media and mental health, a significant determining factor is the types of interactions people feel they are having on these platforms.

How technology is actually dividing families

Over the years, technology has changed and developed every day, entering more and more into our lives and thus changing the culture we had until then. Excessive use of technology when we should be with family can affect family relationships and cause family divides. Here we will list some of the examples that lead to this:

• Decreased face-to-face communication;
• Change in influencers
• Distanced communication
• Feeling unimportant
• Lack of strong relationships
• Less comfort, trust, security, love
• Less opportunity to parent

How is AI affecting future?

Loss of human jobs

During the further development of artificial intelligence, many people will lose their jobs due to the fact that AI will take over the jobs that were previously performed by humans. "According to a report published by the McKinsey Global Institute, around 800 million jobs could be lost worldwide because of automation by 2030."

This often leads to the question of where all those people who lose their jobs will find employment. Some believe that the development of AI will enable the emergence of new jobs. Also, some believe that the difference between the rich and the poor will become even bigger because the rich people who used to employ people will now use robots and thus earn more, and the poor will lose their jobs and will be even poorer.

Impact of the technology on the Environment

From the time of the industrial revolution until today, technology is developing at a high speed and thus it creates consequences for our environment. These technologies are harming our world in two ways: pollution and the depletion of natural resources.

Air and water pollution:

Air pollution on our planet occurs when various harmful substances and gases are released into the air, be it from factories, cars or other devices that we use every day. These harmful substances negatively affect our health and have long-term consequences for us as well as for our planet. Water pollution is mainly caused by human activities. Domestic waste, industrial waste water and insecticides and pesticides are just some of the things that contribute to water pollution. Water pollution further leads to pollution of the entire ecosystem. It also causes many dangerous diseases and negatively affects the food chain.

Depletion of natural resources:

We see that the resources found in nature disappear very quickly or are very poorly renewed. With the development of technology, we will completely endanger our non-renewable resources if we continue to use them to such an extent. With the example of deforestation, we can see how serious a problem this actually is. Forests are being destroyed as if there were an infinite number of them and very little is being planted. If we continue like this, the number of years we will be able to continue like this is questionable. By cutting forests, we also endanger the air and its quality. We have to find a way to do all that more rationally, paying attention to our environment. Also, non-renewable energy sources are used to a large extent and the future is not looked at. People act like they can't wait to spend everything to witness it. We must turn to renewable sources of energy such as the sun, wind and water.

The e-Waste problem

According to some research, we generate 50 million tons of e-waste annually. This waste includes devices such as microwaves, washing machines, refrigerators, telephones, cameras, computers... The vast majority of these devices contain toxic elements that, when burned, release toxins that enter the air and thus pollute our environment. All this can cause a serious disaster and it is necessary to change something in order not to destroy our planet.