How our relationship has changed under the influence of technology?

Good morning, afternoon, or evening, my friends. Happy to see you again in my blogger. Unexpectedly, this is the last required log in this semester; but I will keep reading “Snow Crash” until I finish it and keep sharing my reflection with you. So, I’ve read approximately half of this novel so far, I will briefly update the progression of the story for you in the following paragraph, and further discuss an issue regarding human relationship and technology in the third to fifth paragraphs. This time, hope you can still read it at ease and can relate to your own experience by reading this log.

In previous log I mentioned that the main character, Hiro, started his adventure in the Metaverse and again commerce on his original occasion (also his strength), hacker. So, why I called his journey an adventure? Because in the Metaverse, there were lots of challenges waiting for Hiro to conquer. Among these, the most dangerous one is a drug called “Snow crash (kind of computer virus)”. If people in virtual world consumed “Snow crash”, they would have serious side effects or even disappear in the virtual world. Initially the main characters had been indifferent to this drug until some of Hiro’s friends went mindless in reality. Hiro found out this drug would cause effects on both virtuality and reality, so he started to investigate the source of Snow crash. To stop this drug, Hiro demonstrated his hacker skills, inventing more powerful weapon to combat the Bob’s corporation, which was the inventor of “Snow crash”.

(Since I’ve been a bit busier recently, the above contents are about what I’ve read. The following is my personal reflection to it.) 

So far as I’ve read, I really feel that the world in the novel is a bit wild, but for some reason it makes me think that it is possible to be realized. A world that went both downhill and crazy, which were only four things worth paying attention to in the novel: music, movies, software, and high-speed pizza delivery. People put their focus in the virtual world, trying to escape from the dangerous and doom world. However, due to the appearance of “Snow crash”, their lives were even more dangerous. From author’s description, I also think about how technology has distorted the human relationship, which seems to interact frequently but in fact is alienated.

Last weekend, I didn’t go back home. My grandpa scolded me for not informing him that I wouldn’t go back this weekend. He said “people relationship now isn’t as sturdy as before. Even though we have the convenience brought by the technology, we still ignore the basic human relationship.” Of course, this is not the first time he said that. However, this time I seriously think of his words. Why people don’t be closer but be more distant under the development of tech? (Or more extremely says), Why human relationship seems to be distorted by the development of tech?  The relationship in real life has been gradually changed or even replaced by the one in the internet. For instance, I can tell a stranger all of my personal affairs but I cannot socialize with any person in real world. Another example is in a family reunion, all family members were staring at their phones, immersing in their phones as if they were independent individuals instead of family. Also, the frequency of warm greeting was reduced, instead, it was replaced by those cold online texts and texting image (長輩圖). I usually ponder over this question：Might people cherish human relationship more without the convenience brought by technology? Yet the fact is people have been affected by tech to a certain extent. Some can fall in love with a person by a couple of lines of texts; or some can commit suicidal due to anonymous comments in the social media. They both forget what should really pay attention to, the genuine relationship between people around them and themselves. People now (including me) are similar to the characters in this novel, we all take a different character in virtual world. What a shame, we seem to like the identity in virtuality much.

I sincerely hope that our future would won’t be like the one in novel, at least I will try my best to prevent that world from happening. For me, I really love the time when my brothers and I were playing hide and seek instead of immersing into phone games like now. The former let me feel the true warmth while the latter only make me feel a sense of distance. What about you? Does your world be affected by technology? and what kind of world do you prefer?

Comment below if you want. 😊😊😊