In connection to our previous reading, I revisited the blog of the blogger I chose for our Webzine article. Jaymie Heimbuch is a blogger for one of the most widely read environmental blogs on the Web, Treehugger.com. Heimbuch’s articles center around her interests in wildlife conservation, water issues, and technology. In her article, Can Wireless Sensor Technology Make Us Happier People?, Heimbuch contemplates technology’s impact on our daily and working lives and wonders if all the advances in wireless technology really make us truly happier people.
Heimbuch discusses breakthrough technologies including sensors built by Hitachi that are designed to monitor us along with virtually every aspect of our immediate environment.
Now, a wireless device by Hitachi worn as a lanyard can detect body movements as slight as head nods or finger-pointing, voice level, ambient air temperature, lighting, and other conditions in one’s social environment. The badge can then download the day’s information to be analyzed at the maker’s data center where reports are provided back to the wearer.
Like a thermometer is used to gauge the temperature, happiness sensors collect a vast array of data to gauge your level of happiness. Google Images.
As more studies are conducted and more data is gathered, researchers believe that we will have technology to help point us towards living happier lives. Heimbuch remains skeptical as to whether or not this technology is really necessary. She argues that by simply practicing mindfulness, we can avoid having a devices to tell us how we (should) feel. Mindfulness simply means taking time to stop what you are doing an assess your emotions, body language, and word choice in a particular situation. Heimbuch points out that all of this is hard work, and that we turn to technology to make it easier for us. She believes that we are in fact making our path to happiness more convoluted by trying to make a device to tell us how we are feeling.
Although the advances in wireless technology have made it so much easier for us to stay in touch with one another, the flip side maybe causing us to lose contact with ourselves. I personally feel that if society were to implement these ‘happiness sensors’ on a wide scale, we risk fostering a culture of severely disconnected people. And by disconnected, I don’t mean social isolated, I mean we risk losing the ability of self-evaluation and reflection. These are invaluable skills that are part of what makes us human. Do we really want to sacrifice this for the simple sake of convenience?
Happiness is a journey not a destination – Ben Sweetland.
This quote nicely sums up the sentiments of the article. The best things in life come with work and persistence. It is clear that these wireless happiness sensors simply cater to instant gratification. I think it’s a key part of life and greatly worth putting in the effort to grow from your experiences and learn to become more in-tune with yourself and those around you.
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