“When it comes to thinking, we’re trading depth for breadth,” he said, adding that most people are so focused on the immediate that they lose the ability to think more deeply about the long-term implications of complex problems. Technology and its disruptive impact make the matter worse, he added.
When people explore new data and get new information they feel elated without being sure of its authenticity, he added. New data releases pleasure-producing pulse in brain and makes people feel rewarded. To continue getting these rewards they become compulsive with the gadgets they carry around all day. Pharmaceutical manufacturer Amjad Jawa said higher ups in companies expect employees to be constantly connected, monitoring streams of messages and information. “This round the clock connectivity stress creates fear among workers of being disconnected, afraid that it may damage their careers, not to mention their social lives,” he revealed.
It is true that companies benefits from rapid communication and swift exchange of data, however they lose the human intellect to computer software, he deplored, adding that the employees lose the analytical and critical thinking that require a calm and attentive mind.
Elaborating his point, the pharmaceutical manufacturer said, we are experiencing the adverse impact of technology on our daily life. About 20 years back we were able to memorize dozens of telephone numbers now some people do not even remember mobile numbers of their immediate family members, because it is stored in their mobile phone, he said.
“Those using GPS device for step-by-step directions, know that computer automation has eroded awareness of surroundings and dulled their perceptions and talents,” he added.
It must be realized that computers cannot do everything that a human can, said Jawa, adding that software can only do what it has been programmed to do while humans have the ability to do the unexpected by applying their mind to it. “But the speed and precision of computers mask their fundamental mindlessness,” he regretted.
Willingness to forgo short-term gratification and keeping faith in the fundamentals can serve a corporate well as the value of discipline is at the heart of all successful corporates, he concluded.