It is generally accepted that at present we have a “mental health crisis” in Britain. This is almost certainly the result of multiple factors. One, particularly in the young, is their dependence on smart phones and the rather toxic world it forces them to inhabit.
An aspect of digital technology usually ignored, and affecting adults as much as the young, is that we are very much controlled by it, yet we have no understanding of it.
Homo Sapiens have always not merely used technology, but had a relationship with it, as we make things to enable us to function well in the ecological niches we inhabit. The creativity and innovation which always seeks to modify and improve is what distinguishes Homo Sapiens from our hominid ancestors who left their technology unchanged for millions of years.
This relationship with technology was possible well into the 20th century. Go to a museum of technology where there are working steam engines, or machinery from the textile industry, and watch the machine carefully. The reasonably technically minded can see how it works. Much troubleshooting of faults could be done by checking by eye all the elements of it and then seeing a broken link, a bolt become loose, a worn part. Most of the technology in homes could be dealt with by the reasonably competent home mechanic well into the 1970s.
The increased use of electricity changed this. It became far more difficult to see what is going on. As that shifted to electronics it became very difficult. As technology moved to digital it became impossible to see what the individual components are – even assuming you can get inside the piece of equipment.
This shift towards a more opaque technology has been accompanied by an increase in dependence on that technology. We are therefore increasingly having our lives controlled by that which we really do not understand, and therefore have very little control over.
Increasing the repairability of everyday life technology, from cars to smartphones, has the potential for multiple benefits. It will increase the useable life of them as they can be kept going at an affordable rate by the competent home technician. It should also reduce the sense of alienation from the technology if we know we can take it apart and fix at least some elements of it.
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