Technophobia is defined by Wikipedia as the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers. This fear is said to increase as technology keeps evolving. Actually, some people have come to be afraid of technology just because they have very serious problems with things that are bringing changes.
These fears may, of course, be valid but that doesn’t mean the problem are necessarily from technology as they are from those scared of these technologies. For some others like Ellon Musk and Steven Hawkins who has spent his last years warning humans on the dangers of Artificial Intelligence, their concerns are not with technology but the way people are using it.
Here are some reasons why people are afraid of technology
1. TECHNOLOGY ILLITERACY
A lot of persons are totally ignorant on how technology work and some make no effort whatsoever to learn. Every new invention is a feet deeper in their illiteracy and they fear that a time will come when they will be highly irrelevant.
The good news for these people is that it is never too late to learn, but the bad news is that they are even scared to learn. More so, every piece of technology comes with a manual or guide. Get informed because ignorance is no defense in this technology-controlled world of ours.
2. HELP! THEY ARE STEALING OUR JOBS.
Machines might have been created to do work faster and easier but one of its downsides is replacing the human workforce, this is rapidly leading to more unemployed and underemployed individuals. Fear and anger have driven several individuals to destroy one machine or another such as the Weavers in 1675, who destroyed the weaving machines they ‘accused’ of stealing their jobs. This trend has been recorded over the years and doesn’t seem likely to stop soon.
This fear may not be completely out of place because robots are actually taking over many jobs including the jobs of commercial sex workers when you consider that there are now many sex doll brothels.
3. ECONOMIC CONCERNS
In a world where money remains the buying power, it is scary that more technology is doing more work and turning over more output yet most people are losing their jobs. Who then buys the overproduced quantity of goods? The use of cryptocurrency is on the rise and it is only left to the imagination what will happen if one day, the computer loses all records of our crypto accounts.
In fact, because of the fear of cryptocurrency, some countries including China have outrightly banned every form of it, even as many online platforms are beginning to accept it. This means that those that have banned it may still turn around and allow for it.
4. ATELOPHOBIA
This is the fear of not being good enough or not doing something right. The group of persons who have this fear are called ‘Perfectionists’. They may fear technology because they fear not being able to know all there is to know about it. They practically want to know everything and it could be very terrifying to have several things spring forth daily which one can’t keep abreast with much less learn them in totality.
5. FEAR OF DISORDERLINESS
An uncontrollable feeling of anxiety and a full-blown panic attack are two of the symptoms that persons with the fear of disorderliness have to deal with. These people manage to build a ‘perfect’ life around themselves and the very thought that something as little or big as a machine can lead to a gradual decline into disorder can be a trigger to their attack.
6. RELIGIOUS REASONS
A lot of technological advancements do not sit well with some people who view them as opposing to their faith or religious views. When Galileo suggested that the earth was round and not flat, the Church condemned him massively. Some argue that man was commissioned as the grand master of the earth by God and that this is being threatened by technology and our increased reliance on them for survival. Some Christians also fear that technology might be a tool for the anti-Christ’s rule.
7. PRIVACY CONCERNS
Some persons are wary of technology especially computers because they do not want any group or entity having their private data stored somewhere. This could as well just be a rational fear with the recent Facebook ‘data’ struggles. This actually gets scarier if we consider all the information we have stored on technology and how much can be used against us.
8. MENTAL CONCERNS
Some persons believe that technology affects our mental capacities adversely. Firstly, because they deprive us of our thinking processes as rather than think through a project, for instance, we rely on computers. Calculators, for example, are said to lower a person’s calculative abilities. Another group of persons believes that excessive use of technology damages our mental health.
9. TECH WAR
A lot of predictions have been done with regards to the next war that will shake the whole world. Majority of persons insist that such a war will have to do with space and cyberspace. Some have dubbed the ‘impeding war’ as the third world war and Giga battle.
Filmmakers have managed to increase this fear with their increasing number of somewhat realistic Sci-Fi movies. As technology gets more complex by the day, we can only pray that what happens in the movies stays in the movies.
10. WE WERE MADE THAT WAY
Our brain and sense organs warn us of impending danger and help us act to avoid or control them. Some persons argue that man is naturally instilled with an innate fear of things that cause any kind of discomfort or threat. True or not, the fact remains that we all have one fear or the other.
Are these fears valid for you? Are they reasons enough to be afraid of technology? Or are you just going to ‘damn it all’ and enjoy life one technology after the other?
Here are some quick phobias that people have that can be associated with technology:
- Telephonophobia: This is simply the fear of receiving or making calls. It is also referred to as the fear of phones.
- Selfiephobia: The fear of taking selfies either because you think it is superficial, or you don’t want unnecessary attention, or because you feel you are not photogenic, or even because of some other reasons.
- Nomophobia: This is the fear of being without a phone or the fear of losing your phone. This is a real fear among those that cannot be without their phones.
- Cyberphobia: This is the fear of computers. Although it is very hard to believe, there are people that are afraid of computers.
