Technology today is seen to be an answer to many questions. As it grow more and more popular, it is becoming too powerful for many people that it starts to be addictive.
Technology has been crawling deep into people's lives, and a lot deeper since the introduction of the internet. As the network grow exponentially, the number of people connected to it is increasing even more dramatically.
With technology in mind, users are making themselves an atmosphere where they are spoiled by the ease of information transaction on everyday devices they own and see. This creates the urge for rings, pings and updates.
The concern was voiced in conferences in recent interviews with many top executives of technology companies. It is the constant stimulation, the lifestyle, and the urge that created a physical craving that can hurt productivity, real life interactions, as well as giving some psychological issues.
"People need to notice the effect that time online has on your performance and relationships," said a director in the executive offices of Facebook.
Researchers has been exploring whether interactive technology has addictive properties since the early times of the internet and the term "crackberry" emerged.
The Facebook executive said that his primary concern was that people live balanced lives. At the same time, he acknowledges that the message can run counter to Facebook’s business model, which encourages people to spend more time online.
The emerging conversation reflects a broader effort in the valley to offer counterweights to the fast-paced lifestyle. Many tech companies are teaching breathing exercises and meditation to their employees and stadds to help them slow down and "disconnect" themselves from the tech works.
At Cisco, the chief technology and strategy officer and its former head of engineering said that she regularly told people to take a break and a deep breath, and did so herself. She meditates every night and takes Saturday to paint and write poetry, turning off her cellphone or leaving it in the other room.
"It is like to reboot your brain and your soul," she explained.
A psychologist who has been invited to lecture at the business school at Stanford, said that she regularly talked with the leaders of technology companies about these issues. She was impressed that they had been open to discussing a potential downside of their innovations.
"The people who are running these companies want their technology to enhance lives," she said. "But they’re becoming aware of its addictive being."
Google, the tech giant that earns more ad revenue as people stay online longer, has started a movement at the company to teach employees self-awareness and to improve their ability to focus.
"Consumers need to be able to balance the capabilities that technology offers them for work, for search, with the qualities of the lives they live offline," said an executive coach at Google.
"It is all about creating a space for us from being swept away by our technologies."