Before I explore the main topic of my focus and expertise, I suddenly feel the need to give an overview of the current situation we are waking up to, and the overtures our antecedents are leaving behind for us to deal with.

With 2016 slowly coming to its end, it is time to reflect on some of the most unforeseen events marking this year. From terrorist attacks publicly acknowledged by ISIS, including their threats to strike anytime in the near future. From the different approaches of individual European countries dealing with the wave of immigrants coming from the East. From Brexit, the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union or now the unexpected election of Donald Trump on the post of USA president chosen by the underpaid or unemployed majority of the middle and lower class.1 All these reflect and culminate (some of) the global affairs that took place on the turn of this century.


All these suggest deepening of the abyss between the rich and the poor and unleashing of some seemingly resolved controversies from the history to the present. Like racism and discrimination of minorities due to overall fear from cultural diversity and exhaustion from working over time.

My wide range of interests cannot even cover the problems of the other part of the world and these examples seem to be enough to demonstrate that the civilization of this planet is in a disrupted and uneasy situation. This is without even considering the horrific impact of global warming.
In this house of cards that appears to scatter soon, meanwhile the technology revolution was born. World of wonders created with technology went further with incredible speed and is still leaping with astonishing progress until the present days. With technology at its peak, changes are happening faster than ever before, leading us to find ourselves in an era frequently referred to as the ‘Digital age’, dominating every aspect of our lives.



A GOOD IDEA CAN BE ENOUGH TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER



The very defining invention for the creation of my, and the following generations is the invention of the World Wide Web in the early 90s. Its enormous rise showed us the scope of human potential. One of the leading computer scientists that stood behind the project , Jaron Lanier, basically claims that we could have remembered Internet simply as this beautiful human project. Regardless the the financial endowing, masses of people got together to build it at a pure instigation of a good idea that was worth creating. However, he alleges, that it all went completely askew when businesses rushed in to capitalize it and fill it with advertisement, thus turning it into a greedy soil.2 That miraculously open and unstructured information tool was simply meant to be offered to people like a canvas with endless range of paint and brushes for every single one to express himself. Such prognosis have came alive but with it the threats somehow too.



EVERY FAIRY TALE TEACHES US SOMETHING ABOUT THE EVIL WITHIN THE GOOD



Have you ever questioned how the design of online platforms such as Facebook organizes us all into the same interface identities? Couldn’t it actually reduce the individualistic voice in us if we have to (decide to) adapt to this regularized formatting and what’s worse, could it reshape our way of perception of others and ourselves?
The social wonder we can observe is that anything invented by technologists will be accepted by people online in a short matter of time without much of discussion or defiance. Especially, when compared to any changes induced by the church or government, which tend to be viewed rather hesitantly; making us feel oppressed and subordinated to higher authorities. The online climate delivers these modifications constantly under the pseudonym of innovation and technical development, which explains why nobody dares to stand in its way. Facebook technologists are for instance coming up with seemingly humanistic ameliorations of their social media platform. They give people the possibility to judge posts by pressing a “like button” (which by now developed into a button that can tell if you are pleased, amazed, angry or sad about something). On one hand, it thus seem they are trying to bring in more of the human nature. On the other hand, it triggers some mental pressure as we long for the positive judgments in all our virtual doings.

The anonymity that has occurred with the rise of web 2.0.5 created space for some human pathology. People in online platform (like Youtube) can easily misuse their nickname hideaway by being abusive, and engage in activities such as “trolling”. Online world has the ability to make us feel protected, hidden behind a mask, so the things we don’t dare to say out loud , we dare to filter there. Everything that happens online has the ability to come across as a game, not as a serious matter, because the Virtual Reality namely implies something that doesn’t cross Our Reality. Unfortunately, the cyber bullying can become palpable and physical. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg found that there was a ‘central link’ between computers and mental disorders like stress and sleep disturbances6 and throughout the past decade, the rate of adolescents, thus Millennials, reporting clinical depression grew by 37 percent7. These things were once a technical designing choice within this groundbreaking tool and it shows how hard it is to predict the consequences and effects, which then arise once big amount of people get to use it.



IT ALL COMES TO WHO IS THE RULING KING



The evolutionary shift in technology from using only home telephone lines two decades ago to having a portable computer device in your pocket called a smart phone, created an increasing pressure on being constantly accessible and thus ‘available’. It is not that surprising when we take in account that it is the first time human being is exposed to digital environments and constant feed of information exceeding his own range of possibility to act in an environment overfilled with information. The question of compatibility of human and machine is on-going already for decenniums. The progress in technology is in the spotlight for all kinds of researches since I can remember, as there is no question it does influence the evolution of human itself, not only his tools. The concrete questions that ask for answers when I look at my generation are for example why so many of us seem to be so overwhelmed? Why time seems to run so fast and why are we having such a hard time focusing?
We might be able to achieve some trustworthy deductions only with hindsight and until then many things can go wrong for our nature (which is a word that should make you project everything beneficial in you and for you).

It is not about stopping the progress (not that it would be even genuinely possible). But there are valuable lessons learned from the expansion of the web, which was and still is in the hands of a few computer scientists that maybe don’t even realize the vast influence they have upon people thinking. This potentially brings to our minds the correlation with other systems, especially politics. Nevertheless, there is no democracy or referendums in technological progression.
The human nature has more in common with animal nature than it might initially seem. Regardless how stunted our innate characteristics already got by this century, the aphorism “the strongest wins, the strongest rules” are definitely still preserved. We do not have to go far to see that. The richest 1% is having as much wealth as the rest of the world combined, and the richest 62 people in the world having as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population.8 Similarly in technology and innovation, there will be always only few people having the power to influence the rest and pull the rope (even though sponsored by the wealthy percentage). These people give meaning to the modern world, diligently making our lives easier, but can we really trust that the motive is stronger in the matter of humanity than in the wicked strive for money?
There is indeed a free choice of (not) using the social media, but there isn’t for instance a free choice in (not) operating machines in the public space, which are replacing and slowly eliminating employees across sectors and inevitably bringing the increasing profits to the hands of the few at the top of the pyramid.

The leaping progress in technology thus tends to circumvent some important aspects,which we shouldn’t give up on. In the rising process of smartification of things where technology and the Internet will power our daily objects, modernization shouldn’t neglect our essentiality.

I believe that is where the creative minds need to get together in order to make sure our world stays human enough (which is another trigger of my upcoming exploration). It is simply about making sure our environments are designed to suit us, humans and not machines.