THE TECHNOLOGY GENERATION

How is Technology effecting this generation?

Look all around you and you see people buried into their phones. It's their own world that they can escape too whenever they want. We have Social Media, Google, Instant Communication, and all the information we can ever want!

What are the effects of having access to this technology?

The average person spends over 7 HOURS on their phone, and/or computer daily! Technology has become a necessity for work, social life, and recreational fun for everyone. While we have all of these realms conveniently stored in our pocket or backpack, there are some drawbacks to this technology.

This means the average person is exposed to 7+ hours of artificial blue light. Artificial Blue light at night has been shown to disrupt the circadian rhythm and cause sleep problems for decades. It is no surprise why sleep issues and insomnia are widespread in modern society.

Teenagers and Children are stuck inside with all of their friends and recreation available on their mobile devices and gaming consoles. Myopia (near-sightedness) is a rising concern in the newest generation. Scientists project half of the world population to have myopia by 2050! This is due in part to staring at devices all day long and not getting enough sunlight, both of which can cause developmental issues in the eye.

A disrupted circadian rhythm is also associated with psychological issues (via neurohormone secretion abnormalities). Technology is also causing widespread isolation across society, leading to psychological disorders. It is easy to say that technology is contributing to the current MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS via SOCIAL and BIOLOGICAL FACTORS.

How do we solve some of these rising problems from technology?

Optical (eye) Solutions to blocking health damaging effects of technology is necessary to lessen some of the negative effects our society is experiencing. Artificial Blue Light is causing sleep issues, contributing to psychological problems and is causing oxidative stress in the body, all of which have even worse health outcomes associated with them long-term.

Blue-light blocking glasses and light bulbs are an easy solution to block most of these negative biological effects. They will reduce or eliminate most harmful blue light exposure, which can improve overall health on an individual and societal level.

Socially and Culturally, we will have to address our extremely poor 'light' habits to improve our health. The sun is demonized in scientific literature and media, creating a sentiment that sunlight exposure should be avoided and blocked. Sunlight is critical for alertness, good mood, and proper hormone secretion (think serotonin). It is also necessary for the PROPER DEVELOPMENT OF THE EYES. This makes getting more sunlight an IMPERITIVE to improving the health of society.

Highlighting the importance of the sun on a social level, will encourage people to collectively get more sunlight exposure and promote it as a health conscious behavior. This will help attenuate many biological and psychological issues on its own.

People should know their PHOTOTYPE or skin type. This will give them the proper guidance on how much sun exposure they should get for maximal health benefits. It will also tell them the best time to go outside for Vitamin D secretion in the body.

Lastly, encouraging people to get out and be more social will help improve the poor psychological state of our society. Instead of being on Instagram, we should create more events and social gatherings that we could look forward to attending. This will help foster a better sense of community and provide the connection so many people desparately crave.

What is the Outlook on the Future of technology with our Culture?

Technology does many great things, but it has also caused a great amount of damage physically, socially and emotionally to millions of people who are glued to their screens.

We can do much more than we could ever do before in learning, doing business and talking to diverse groups of people. This has created the greatest networking channel in recorded history.

Conversely, the damage technology is causing could mean we are on a steadily increasing decline that may have bad implications in the near future.

Implementing innovative solutions to protect against the harmful aspects of technology (Blue Light, Isolation), is a sure way to reverse the current rocky course we are on as a society. We must figure out how to find the proper balance between Technology (phones, computers) and Nature (sun, community), if we are to reap the most benefits from both!