Human Connection, Experience, and Focal Points in an Era of Technology

Human Connection, Experience, and Focal Points in an Era of Technology Georgia Balius, UMCUR 2025 Abstract In an era of rapid technological development, we have become increasingly intertwined with our devices and online spaces. Proponents of the rise of technology point out that we have made significant advancements in areas such as medical and automation that add great overall benefit to society. Opponents point out that technology has increasingly isolated us and created a whole host of new problems we are not equipped to deal with. Philosophical work in this vein has often taken one side or the other when constructing arguments surrounding our relationship with technology. This paper attempts to mediate these issues by exploring how human connection and experiences are impacted by technology in both positive and negative ways. Specifically, I ask and explore what it means to be human and engage in human practices and focal points of connection amid our modern age. While the relationship between humans and technology is vast and tangled, this work attempts to provide some guidance into how one may discern from technology that adds to ease of life and technology and practices that detract from a philosophical conception of the good life. Explored foci include, but are not limited to, the commodification of the human self through technological saturation, a dive into possible modern focal points and practices, the intrusion of artificial intelligence into daily life, and the developmental impact of social media.