What if Tech Companies Are Brainwashing Us to Believe This is the Life We Want?

There is nothing wrong with wanting a world free from robot domination.

I am going to cut right to the chase.

The harsh truth is that we’re being forced into an ever more technological world and forced away from our natural world. The reason I use the word “force” is because it is happening without any choice offered to the non-tech-industry majority (aka, me and probably you too).

Did anyone ask you if you wanted ChatGPT to take over the world? No? Weird, no one asked me either! I must have missed the worldwide Google Forms poll where we all got to vote on it.

In all seriousness, it just seemed to happen. Just like the internet. Just like smartphones. Just like all the life-altering technological advancements thus far.

ChatGPT played to our innate human needs for discovery, creativity, and spontaneity. But just because it piqued our interest did not mean we gave it consent to get into bed with us. You feel where I’m going with this?

There is a lot in our big, beautiful world that is interesting and creative. That does not mean we want to commit to it or allow it to have power over our lives. It just means it’s interesting. Yet, now, ChatGPT & AI in general are set on a course to change our lives in very profound and irrevocable ways.

And we are seemingly expected to bow down to it with adoration, as if this is the savior who will rid us of our 21st century problems. We are expected to believe that this is the inevitability of our world. And then, we are expected to want more of it.

Imagining a Different World

But what if we did have choice? And by we, I mean, the majority of people who exist outside the tech industry. What if we had the same power and influence that tech companies do. What would our world look like then?

Imagine if every person on the planet stopped what they were doing right now, closed their eyes, and tapped into their hearts. What do you think their deepest desires would be?

What do you think they *really* want?

Do you think the first thing they’d think of is a self-driving car? Or ChatGPT to write them another essay?

I don’t.

I’ll tell you what I think (since you’ve read this far).

I think we (the non-tech industry majority) are being brainwashed by the tech industries to believe that’s what we want. I think people would be afraid to say they want anything more than an ever-evolving, exhausting world of technology.

I think the non-tech majority may not even know there is anything more that life has to offer… that the term “more” has been distorted to mean more stuff. More gadgets. More things to plug in and recharge when they’re low on batteries. More ways for us to believe our lives are getting easier when, in reality, they are getting more cluttered, more complex and more overwhelming.

What Do Humans Really Want?

I truly believe — if given the time, space, and resources to go deeply inside themselves and ask what they want out of their one human life on this planet — that very few people would come out and say, “I want more technology.”

You know what I think people would say? They may say things like:

I want… a clean, comfortable, safe living space to call my own. I want… paid time off from work to recharge. I want… to be paid a truly livable wage and be recognized for my inherent value. I want… to be seen, heard and accepted by my peers. I want… friends who cherish my uniqueness and support me. I want… to feel happiness and be content. I want… time to dive into my artistic impulses without worrying about outcome. I want… to do more activities with my kids. I want… a loyal partner who deeply cares about me. I want… my boss to stop micromanaging me and support me instead. I want… to eat better quality, healthier food. I want… equal access to high-quality education. I want… the opportunity to develop my own self-confidence and self-esteem. I want… a world where conflict resolution does not involve violence. I want… to be able to safely enjoy nature and walk around my neighborhood. I want… to be unburdened by the weight of the financial debt I must carry in order to keep up in an advanced technological society.

When I imagine hearing these requests, I also hear the deeper, underlying needs in them. Universal human needs like:

Freedom. Peace. Respect. Safety. Equality. Joy. Belonging. Love. Security. Unity. Understanding. Creativity. Honesty. Connection. Compassion. Nourishment.

Are You Getting What You Really Need?

Take a moment to honestly evaluate your life. Have you gotten more of what you really need in life with the increased technology of the last decade?

And, if you have, then yay for you!

But also consider this: at what price has it come? Do you also have more stress? More anxiety or depression? Less money and more debt? Less free time? More addictive tendencies? More distance from loved ones? More time spent sitting in front of screens instead of outside in the fresh air & sunshine? More expectations and demands of your time, your energy, and your money?

I’m going to assume you answered yes to at least one of these based on how rampant these issues are (in US society at least). And herein lies the issue.

There has to be a better way to balance our humanity and our technology.

I am not someone who believes we have to go back to pre-internet, pre-smartphone lives (although the millennial in me admits I sometimes miss parts of that lifestyle).

However, I am passionate about balance. I’m not totally delusional.

I am an advocate for a balance between fulfilling inherent human needs and using silicon technology to positively contribute to our species and this earth. We need both, but we’re severely outbalanced right now. We can tell because our planet is completely strained by our desire for “more” (in the traditional tech-based ways we described above).

With AI and machine learning industries exploding in the near future, we must remain vigilant! We must stop being sleepy, brainwashed beings and advocate for what we really want in life — both to our governments but also to the tech industries. If we don’t, we can be sure that they will steamroll over us with their agendas.

Re-gaining Your Technological Well-Being

I encourage you to be the curator of your involvement with technology. Some of us will naturally gravitate towards using it more just as some people prefer basketball over ballet. The most important part is that you get to choose. You get to consciously decide by asking yourself the question — is this really what I want to spend my time, money, and energy doing?

Here’s how you can do this in 2 steps:

First, get intimate with your own needs. This is an area where people struggle but only because we weren’t taught about our needs. Good news everyone! It’s 2024 now.

Remember that technological balance I briefly mentioned earlier? This is one of the greatest parts of the technological boom — that we now have access to more knowledge and information than ever before! So read, learn, watch videos, listen to podcasts. Get yourself familiar with what it means to have needs.

A great place to start is with the Center for Nonviolent Communication’s Needs Inventory.

Contrary to what you’ve been taught, having needs and being needy are not the same. It is ok to learn about your needs. In fact, it is imperative that you do this. It will make you familiar with being human. To have needs is to be human. You have permission to stop trying to be something other than what you are my dear, beautiful human.

Next, take control of your technology use. Once you know what you need you can better determine if technology can help you get those needs met. And, if it can, then what is the best way to do that? You can better control the ways that technology helps you, so it won’t hinder you.

You decide how often you look at your phone… not the other way around. You decide what limits you set on your social media usage each day. You decide whether you really want to invest money and time into a VR console.

Because you don’t have to do any of that if you don’t want to.

You can decide that you’d rather go outside and play a pickup basketball game instead. It’s ok to want human connection, exercise, fresh air and play. Those are human needs. And you are human. Embrace and honor your innate needs. I promise you’ll feel better!

You need to clearly understand your universal human needs and regain control of your technological use. If you don’t, technology will easily and gladly take over your life. And I guarantee it won’t get you closer to fulfilling those underlying human needs. It can’t because — well — it will never understand your needs.

Because technology will never be a human. Not matter how hard it tries.