Return to Author Return to Main PageWe have all been sold a lie, in this world we have been and will continue to be told to believe convenience is great. Meanwhile, marketers forever push products with the message convenience is the must have commodity, especially if you want to get ahead. Convenience is well just that, its all too convenient which usually results in you forgoing some type of control that your not aware of in order to receive a desired outcome in efficiency. An easy analogy would be to make the comparison between laptop and tablet. Where the tablet is light, simpler to use and comes with applications. The Laptop however has much more processing power, has full development capability e.g programming and has greater flexibility in its use. Thus the regular tablet user is seen to have significantly greater less control over the devices despite how tablets are marketed.
Before we discuss immediate gratification (IG), I want to briefly touch on the counter term “delayed gratification”(DG). (DG) is a term that is often used and is widely known, for clarity I will describe (DG) as one who re-frames from participating in a pleasurable moment, in-order to increase ones appreciation. The keyword here is appreciation because if we are not able to access a specific need easily, we place a higher value thus being more appreciative. The most famous research that explored (DG) is named “the Marshmallow Test”. To surmise the Marshmallow test, young children were sat in a quite research room and were provided a couple of marshmallows on a plate. Each child was told if they could wait a set determined time e.g 15 minutes and not consume the marshmallow, they would then receive bonus marshmallows usually a doubling of the total amount. If however the child ate a marshmallow, no bonus would occur. The study showed that some children were able to re-frame from eating the marshmallows placed in front of them because they knew they would get more (DG). While others tinkered (licked, nibbled at the edges) with the marshmallows to give the appearance none had been eaten, some children even consumed all of the marshmallows and couldn’t wait (IG). Thus, the child who was able to re-frame from eating their marshmallows was 'delaying' their gratification for maximum pleasure. e.g more marshmallows.
Now that we have set the stage explaining (DG), we can now move forward to explaining (IG) is the opposite of (DG) where a person is solely governed by immediate or impulsive gains just like a spontaneous window shopper. Therefore in search of immediate gains, the individual is seeking a positively charged mood change. However, the downside of seeking (IG) reduces the true meaning and joy or even pleasure in ones life as the individual tends to rapidly proceed to the next situation seeking the next pleasurable event. The common saying here is “not stopping to smell the roses”. Typical behavioural patterns which are likely to develop from (IG) are impulsivity, agitation, anxiety, depression, frustration, gambling, unhealthy relationships, addictions and even excessive spending. I would like to add not all (IG) is necessarily bad because some can have their merits. On a personal level I can say writing smaller articles in order to post online I have found to be very refreshing, partly because the immediate gratification is acquired by knowing I have completed something. There is just something that feels great when hitting that upload button. This same feeling brings a level of satisfaction more frequently than opposed to writing and completing a book which could take a year. Hence the continued desire to make smaller articles instead of a 350 page book is reinforced.
So how does (IG) relate to convenience you might be thinking, and how does this all relate to technology? It relates because when we make things more convenient, the convenience speeds up processes which result in our changed behaviour where we may inadvertently sacrifice certain control for convenience. The Internet is a interesting example because the Internet is all about here, now and anytime. e.g If you need to know a fact, then jump on the Internet and find your information quickly, buy something at 3am if you cant sleep, jump online for that quick no strings attached sexual encounter. What ever you want or need is truly at your finger tips, like a genie obeying your every command. Over time as our desires are met instantly creating higher demands, we gradually learn to have the expectation that all things should happen in a shorter time frame like the click of a finger. This is to say, what we learn over time is to expect things instantly and usually when that expectation is not met, our tolerance to delay reduces leading to an increase of frustration and anger.
If we were to consider the developmental stages of children with respect to (IG), one of the things children experience are temper tantrums outbursts, screaming, yelling, crying and refusal to move when their needs are not met. We typically see this when children are in the shopping center having a massive outburst in the shop isles, usually drawing much embarrassment for the parent. With good parenting we are taught to overcome the impulsivity of our needs not being met as a part of every day life. Another example maybe learning to lose a game with the understanding we can not win every game. Feelings of dejection are always difficult to overcome, however in time we are capable in learning to remain calm when things do not go our own way. So therefore, in one sense the Internet has the ability to reinforce the same child like behavioural trait and reinstalling it back into adults. Another great example are the fits of road rage increasing in traffic or even the higher demands on customers who are slightly delayed (even high maintenance partners). The foundations of road rage are usually a disregard for others with the sole focus in their own needs. Unfortunately the impulsivity which aligns itself with convenience and instant gratification tends to move towards the unlearning of patience and mitigating temper outbursts like a spoilt child.
Lets examine how (IG), convenience and technology is contributing to a decline in human relations:
With the advent of social media we are sold the promise of friendships, networking and a whole other range of social benefits. However if one examine the true depths of social media influence a more sinister action is in play. The fact is that social media has been dressed up as a positive influential thing, however all that we have done is sold ourselves, our souls out to a mass marketing scheme which has allowed others to know too much about us, which in turn opens the computer user up for exploitation. To date we have learn’t that having 1000 friends in our social media equates to nothing at all, its a figure, it is a cold hollow empty world. Just how many of those Facebook friends will aid your rescue when your contemplating suicide due to a serve depressive episode? How many will stick with you through a head head injury? or the personality change that may follow as a result of that head injury. It is only these times when most people wake up and realise just how fake social media is. What truly matters are the family and close friends we deal with on a daily basis in person. Yet some how we forget them and get wrapped up with an Internet buddy. Some people will attempt to glorify they have so many friends attached to their Facebook or other social media mediums. Even to the extent of buying 'likes'. Social media can become a desperate world full of impossible expectations, a desire for attention like some type of narcissistic trans human. In some cases psychological illnesses such as anxiety, depression and even eating disorders have been connected with social media demands to perform, or reactivate other previous mental health issues into a more severe episode.
On one level, people use social media as a form of validation regardless how crude this method maybe. It may confirm a certain negative or positive self belief the individual may hold within themselves. With respect to affirming negative self beliefs, deep seeded negative belief systems can strengthen and emerge basically fracturing the self identity, possibly leading to the mental health conditions worsening. From this point, the creation of an individual may experience a downward spiral of negative emotions and start to isolate from the community being increasingly at risk of being procured by other unfavorable communities which may be connected to self harm or terrorist activities.
To a degree, how we behave on social media is really no different to being indoctrinated into an Islamic terrorist group. We start by joining an app, we communicate with others, we gravitate towards persons or groups with similar opinions and in some cases led to participate in activities we may not necessarily do any other time for attention. Therefore, from the point of initiation to finish an escalation of actions have occurred through peer pressures.
Lets ask the question, why bother to post on social media? The general reason would to be noticed, so lets play with this as the bases of this discussion. If we are posting images or comments to be noticed, then what for?
The above examples highlight the many different reasons why a person may post on social media. However the greatest danger with social media is the potential to distort ones view. If I am a Labor voter, and all my friends are Labor voters on Facebook, then how many people are going to oppose or challenge any inappropriate ideal my political party may make? Instead what we would tend to see is a raft of comments, images, memes, jokes and all sorts of other commentary that would support our political party and yet disrepute the opposing political party. If this was to occur, at what time does this all inhibit alternative thought or challenge come across ones mind? A person could quiet easily get into a situation where they may not agree with an ideal, yet not openly discuss it because they now face an inclusive group opposing that very idea you may have. This is no different to what occurred with Hitler in Germany. Control comes in many forms and so does coercion, it does not necessarily require a person to be brutally punished or decapitated, it can be as simple as peer pressure. Thus in my example we can then start to understand how easily people who feel isolated and dejected with society leading to radicalisation because they meet with only like for like groups.
As technology increases we continue to find mediums for self expression in an attempt to identify as a collective. The irony here is the more we attempt to become more different than the next person, the reality is with social media and the Internet we see we are not that individual at all. An interesting example would be those who practice 'Furry Fandom', which is the practice of dressing up as animals as a life style choice. In this example, one would easily feel no one would understand, yet going online there Is a community waiting to connect with that person.
Another common behavioural pattern we see via online and social media is de-realism, otherwise known as depersonalisation AKA the keyboard warrior. One of the interesting things about social media in particular is the rawness of the medium. People are aware of the fact they are communicating to others, however on occasion the person depersonalises from reality and may start to participate in actions one may not necessarily do face to face. Online bullying, telling someone to kill themselves, posting derogatory comments, sending naked photos are all examples which are frequently observed in social media. What I find quiet intriguing is previously this type of behavior would be commonly attributed to a person on the computer later night intoxicated, however these days the keyboard warrior has become mainstream.
Another overreaching convenient aspect of social media is the ability to instantly communicate with other people and vice versa, it is no longer needed to leave the lounge room chair to make friends. The speed in which it is possible to make friends instantly and write those new friends off even quicker is incredible. However the cost of this electronic convenience is dissociating empathy with respect to ending relationships. This ongoing interconnectivity between people through social media can be demanding at times. The frequent pings via social media on peoples mobile phones can be heard all day long, where the pings are relating to messages vying to grab our attention. The mobile phone has become the invisible dog leash, we can see those who use social media increasingly become attached to the impulsiveness of messaging and checking for the latest events. This in turn tends to impact relationships negatively, especially at times where a husband and wife could be in the same lounge room yet not a word is uttered between the two. Instead both may be attached to their social media tapping away interacting with a connection of lesser importance. That constant need for instant attention, instant gratification, is likely to increasingly upset the balance between the couple. In reality, no real and present relationship can cope promoting future burnout likely to ensue.
Last year I was having dinner with a friend at a restaurant and I noticed a young couple siting opposing each other at a dinner table tapping away at their phones messaging. I couldn't believe the fact not a single word from neither of them was uttered. The younger generations are potentially failing to learn the finer human interaction social skills which have to be experienced at a personal level in order to be successfully executed. Social skills avoidance is likely to see the adolescent developing socially awkward behaviours or failing to comprehend fine social skills, which is no different to the lack of ability to understand social cues by Autistic persons.
Just like Internet and social media, other forms of media such as TV media often perpetuates similar types of callous almost psychopathic behavior. Their producing demeaning TV shows which tend to target the weakest person in the show or to cause a situation where arguments occur like a dog eat dog scenario. A classic example of this is the ”My Kitchen Rules” where contestants forever insult, bitch and back stab one an other often in demeaning ways. It is the sole reason why my TV is never on these so called reality TV shows, because they do not have a single shred of positive influence to humanity. In my opinion the media channels 7, 9 ,10 all have a lot to answer for and to a degree hopefully one day in the future they will be held accountable.
The TV is an interesting piece of technology and has played it's part in the decreased quality in family interaction and discussion. In many cultures eating with family and friends is time for not only eating but quality discussion which helps us to relate to our family members. Since the introduction of the TV, families started to gravitate from having dinner at the table to having TV dinners. These changes while subtle started the division of a nuclear family. As time progressed, less was discussed between families at the dinner table. Simply put “ SHHH I'm watching TV!”. Social media has the same tendency to disrupt relationships, however because social media is interactive, the attention away from the family unit is greater because the person's mind literally leaves the room and goes elsewhere. Perhaps the persons mind is preoccupied, perhaps searching for information or even talking with others via text messaging. This involvement with third parties is literally disrupting relationships by fracturing the close connections between our loved ones to starting other relationships. As frightening as it seems, it is now possible to have an affair while in the same room with our husband or wife. I've noticed over time technologies such as social media, mobile phone, chatting / dating apps etc are opportunistic mediums in waiting. After all, why do you think so many accounts were present on 'Ashley Madison' which is a website that glorifies the possibility of meeting others discreetly (an affair). In fact one article stated approximately 32 million people had accounts to this website alone.
How one perceives an affair is quiet varied, some assume an affair may exist by merely texting, giving to much attention to another person, going out with a person, kissing and touching leading to or participating in sexual intimacy. In any case it is not for me to define what an affair is I will leave that to you. However I have observed over the years the increasing trend where social media has played apart in separating couples and contributing to affairs. Here is an example of a typical affair story I've listened to all too many times. The story goes like this, a couple are in a meaningful relationship, perhaps the relationship is 10 years old and over time they have changed. These changes may not be a major issue as such, however just enough so the emotional connection or level of interaction declines. Person (A) goes to work and looks unhappy, a co-worker initiates a discussion with person (A). Over time the everyday discussion between co-worker and person (A) becomes more about personal issues, issues about emotions, desires which eventually lead to discussions regarding dissatisfactions with person (A) relationship. In time what occurs is that as co-worker continues to listen and person (A) starts to feel co-worker is listening, is empathic and cares. An emotional bridge starts to occur, thus the path leading towards an affair is forged. At this point, it is only a matter of time feelings begin to strengthen and at some point in time person (A) may start to pursue co-worker or permit co-worker to pursue person (A).
Just like the common older TV, computers were once big cumbersome objects. However technology not only increased with speed and efficiency, it also continue to reduce in size where many have moved from desktop computing to portable platforms e.g phones, tablets etc. This portability in computing now means a person can be anywhere and still easily maintain an affair because communication with that other person is always possible. The contact with the third party is easily hidden secretly because many applications have special features which obfuscate the truth, where the other partner may not be able to confirm an affair in progress.
Delving into social media chat rooms, the expectation is to have a photo of your self. Discussions can quiet easily become sexualised and the expectations to reveal intimate parts of your self can occur. If the person doesn't yield, they are simply blocked from further communication. These are not loving relationships, however we somehow convince our selves there is meaningful connection perhaps because the underlying trait in humans is that we are social creatures. In Australia it is widely preached to love, care for self and others, yet the social media arena is anything but. In actual fact, the social media is quiet a cold environment which rarely fosters positive life experiences. The sad reality is we as individuals are only used for commercial purposes. As much as people don't want to think we are just a number to these organisations and nothing more, so they can continue to plot and scheme the best possible way to exploit the social media user for financial gain.
Another issue which is becoming a concern are adolescents growing up experiencing a distorted view of relationships in a rather hot and cold fashion. Adolescents are avoiding to tell a partner face to face they no longer wish to be their partner, instead preferring to send a simple text message in order to avoid being uncomfortable. As sad it is to tell the partner the relationship must end, the positive aspect to learn is that we recognise we have hurt someone and understand how this feels. We can see their facial expressions, we can hear the change in the persons voice, possibly a different body posture, the quivering lip and yes the most common.. crying. Ending a relationship is not necessarily a bad thing, however if we only resort to text messaging a person we skip much learn't social skill behaviours, one of such is the understanding of empathy.
Like the keyboard warrior I mentioned earlier, Internet chat rooms while having the potential to be positive, are also likely to inflict significant psychological damage to a person who may already to be susceptible to mental health concerns. Example: an increase risk of adolescents suffering with depression and self harm rates due to bullying.
Let us draw our focus away from technology and instead examine how convenience affects our ability to grow foods, cook dinner and eat healthy. In my article “Controlling the population through choice” you have most probably understood the importance of food production, so I will not overly expand this point. Albet to say, the convenience of shopping centers have not really done us a favor. Yes they are easy to access and they have a range of foods for us to buy. All of those frozen foods, microwave dinners even fast food are big money because it caters for laziness. These types of convenient foods may serve two purposes, time saving and fills the stomach. However there is a greater long term danger behind the scene, a danger that most don't stop to think about is the fact we loose the ability to know how to cook. We also lose the ability to understand how food is grown and how long it takes to grow food. This in turn creates a lack of appreciation of food leading to increase wastage. This is smart marketing strategy 101, see a need, create a dependency and just real in the money that will follow. Now days marketing departments throw fancy labels on the foods like “Fat Free”, “No Sugar” “low salt” “All Natural” etc just to entice the person to buy the product. So now we have large parts of the population that eat incorrectly, don't know how to cook, nevertheless less know how to grow their own food and are totally dependent on a super market to provide nourishment. The cost of this convenience is staggering rates of obesity.
To examine this dependency discussion with local shopping centers, we can also see how convenience impacts future knowledge and learning. I can give the example of what many would consider a “throw away society”, meaning because of planned obsolescence the items we purchase only last a certain time before they break. Great for the economy and business, not really great for the consumer because they need to keep buying. What is interesting to note here is I believe over a period of time planned obsolescence and globalisation has greatly influenced the “throw away society”. Because it is easy to come to the conclusion why fix it when I can get something new for same price to fix or cheaper. Hence what has occurred now days is people who once knew how to fix broken things, no long do fix or the experience to fix things have not passed onto the next generation. Recently in Sydney a fantastic shop called “the Bower” is a volunteer service who fixes your broken items. The rationale is to slow consumerism down thus effectively helping to save our planet from waste pollution.
There are several 'conveniences' regarding cars noteworthy for this article. Firstly It is widely purported that newer cars have many advantages over older cars, one such factor is the convenience of fuel efficiency. At least this is what car manufactures and marketing departments would like you to believe in order to junk your old car. Meanwhile the government prefer you to junk the old car and buy a new car to keep the economy rolling. However the reality is vastly different than purported claims alone. One look at the recent research [1] [2] [3] into new car fuel efficiency, found many new cars were not actually as fuel efficient as reported in the first place. Secondly, The convenience of transport has led (in part) to an increase of obesity because the necessity of walking has now significantly decreased.
Another example of the growing trend where convenience has inhibited learning is through basic car maintenance. These days it is very common to just take the car to the dealership (AKA Stealership) or other local mechanic to get the car serviced or have a problem fixed. While this is a great time saver as with everything, once you start getting others to do your work you create a route of dependency and don't know how to service your car, thus you start to lose control. Lose your independence if you will. Car manufactures have taken advantage of the the fact most car owners wouldn't even know how to do a simple oil and filter change on the car, and have created proprietary systems within their cars which now make it difficult to access OBD-II ports for diagnostic purposes. Their are reports that Ford has attempted to force legal action preventing owners or other third parties accessing the OBDII ports to fix their own cars. This type of legal action can only mean the attempt to create total dependence on car manufacturer servicing your car. This combined with the fact when buying a new car it is basically impossible to acquire a new car service manual.
The introduction of calculators were another all to convenient item that was launched in Australia schools over 25 years ago. I remember when I was In primary school and the calculator became mainstream use in the classroom, how easy everything became. Thus where it was once necessary to learn the times tables, now is bypassed where many may not even know the times tables and are dependent on a calculator. Just like everything else mentioned within this article, calculators are most likely a contributing factor to poor Australian maths results in school to date.
In summary, this article has been able to explore how instant gratification stems from technological convenience and how we have blindingly traversed down a path with negative repercussions. Instant gratification permits us to be openly exploited and manipulated for commercial purposes to a stage where it created dependency. We see people unable to recognise a simple food plant, unable to know how to cook, become dependent on services which at the end of the day seriously impairs our own ability to be independent. The whole concept of marketing has been a powerful influencing factor in our lives despite its negative repercussions. While at the same time the convenience of social media is showing serious cracks in human development with regards to attachment and relationship development. Perhaps now armed with a different view with regards to how technological convenience can contribute to your downfall, you will now understand that convenience rids us of learning opportunities, thus losing the ability to problem solve. I love technology, I just hate how technological is destroying peoples lives and how organisations and governments see fit to exploit people and their basic human rights to privacy.
Until next time...
Darren Hamburger
Page Last update:12/06/2017
Return to Author Return to Main Page
Copyright © 2017 Darren Hamburger. All rights reserved.