Instant technology has become too much of a convenience, this to the point that most won’t leave their smartphones for more than a few minutes. Some will take it into their shower wrapped in a plastic bag so they won’t miss a single text, so they won’t miss an Instagram update.
It’s now been close to 30 years since the world was been introduced to the first personal computer which was small and affordable to own. Today, this along with the Internet and it’s wicked stepchild Social Media, are the central hub of our everyday lives.
This is where the issues for most begin. We’re both the beneficiaries as well as the victims to this insanely wired world. Most can observe the upsides along with the downsides of this technology. Most who are older have a love and hate relationship with it.
The landscape is changing so quickly that it becomes difficult to keep up and manage it, realizing that it’s not going away any time soon when it comes to interacting with others. And not all of these changes have been that great.
What all this technology has created is a noticeable lack of work ethic, this according to the “old school” executives who are complaining about the poor soft skills and the lackadaisical attitudes of the young graduates of today.
Somewhere, at sometime during the educational process, there’s been a shift in transition, where these young students, the ones who grew up with an earphone stuck in their head lost their people skills and enthusiasm.
Technology Increases People Skills Decline
In the past 10 years alone, the levels of empathy among college graduates have dropped enough to become a noticeable measurement. During this time, more incidents of bullying, both online and offline has increased.
There’s a distinct parallel between the increase in instant technology and the sense of empathy in these younger people. This correlates since sending a text which says “I’m having a bad day today” doesn’t portray the same empathy when seeing someone face to face and they’re in tears.
More Information Less Creativity
There was a recent study on a group of high school students, one in Japan, and the other in North America. Both groups were given a difficult math and word problem which was University level difficult.
The Japanese students labored for over 60 minutes before solving it or by giving up. On average, the North American students spent a total of 5 minutes before everyone gave up, with no one being able to solve the problem. This proving that the tolerance for thinking in North America doesn’t exist.
Their attention spans, patience, and resilience were nonexistent, this thanks to today’s everything instant and convenient technology world. Once they become overwhelmed, what they do is surrender readily.
More Options Less Commitments
What the world, especially online, offers are way too many options. Things to purchase, things to watch, what to surf, which music to listen to. With all this variety, what the young people have developed are short attention spans, instant gratification, and wanting the next new shiny thing.
They tend to quit easy and wait the the next new novel thing to surface. This trend is also carrying over to their relationships, friends, careers, etc. The young are now conditioned to think like “free agents,” while college graduates are expecting to have numerous careers in their lifetime.
As Life Quickens Their Patience Drops
From even just a decade ago, most are less patient and a lot more irritable, wanting and expecting instant everything served up for them. They want immediate satisfaction such as banking transactions, fast food, to all of life’s questions answered immediately on Google.
The studies show that all this instant gratification declines work ethic and discipline. The brain, reacting like the muscle that it is, resolves itself to all these easier solutions. Once any muscle doesn’t get the workout that it needs, then atrophy sets in.
Increased External Stimulation Decreases Internal Motivation
It’s thought that the average younger person is disconnected from technology for just one hour a day. What this means is that the brain waves are constantly stimulating and streaming, while the dopamine is flowing.
What all this external stimulation causes is a decrease in motivation, as everything that they want is given or available to them immediately. They don’t need to work for it. They get these external rewards instantly which reduces their internal drive and ambition.
What these younger individuals do is work for the reward, and not for the satisfaction which they should be getting from the work. This external stimulation, which is usually artificial, reduces incentive as well as self-sufficiency.
No Measurement Of Success Or Failure
The younger plugged in generation are growing up in a world where failure and making mistakes doesn’t carry consequences. This because of the video game mentality and culture.
In real life, they see someone commit a crime or cheat on an exam, they just shrug. They watch people get shot while watching a movie or on TV, and it doesn’t mean anything to them, this whether it’s real or not. They become immune.
Then what their parents are guilty of is they’ll step in and prevent their kids from getting hurt, protecting them from the consequences if they fail. What this does is it completely desensitizes them, while making them emotionally uninvolved and unprepared for the real world.
What these parents are guilty of is removing the possibility of failure, so the ambition, the drive to succeed for their kids is no long important to them and thus evaporates.
A Sense Of Entitlement
What the younger generation has grown up in is a world of everything free and instant. Free video content, free instant Google searches, and the free affirmation from their parents.
It comes down to supply and demand. Whenever there’s adequate supply, the demand drops. It becomes easy for them to feel entitled to all the resources which we older generation had to pay for in the past.
So as a result, this crop of younger people who are entering the workforce doesn’t care if they have a career, get work experience, earn an income, or wanting to pay their dues, this because everything that they ever wanted has been free and given to them, served up on a platter.