So you’re reading this on an electronic device and it’ll be appearing in a way that my web designer (Little Sausage Design, seeing as you asked) optimised for that very device, via a website, from wherever and whenever you choose. The wonders of modern technology.

Building on from last fortnight’s blog On Freedom in the modern age, where I talked about how sovereign we really are over our own time and choices and where we lie on the Freedometer, in this edition of the Philosopher-In-Residence, I wanted to think a little about the role technology has carved out for itself in our lives.

As regular fans of plans will know, here at Make Me A Plan HQ, we are keen to always see the best in things and reflect positivity into our daily attitudes. So, first things first, here goes with a list of my personal favourite things about what technology has gifted to me and the rest of Plankind:

The ability to travel almost anywhere, at an accessible price, in an accessible timeframe

The ability to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues scattered around the United Plandom

Freedom and universality of access to information

The opportunity to build a business and interact with people

That’s a pretty impressive list, Technology. Overall, it could be said, you did good.

So, why does technology often get a bad rap? In the true spirit of consistency in this sample-of-one piece of research here, I decided to reflect on my personal dislikes about technology:

The pressures of (social) media

The privacy versus profitability dichotomy

Disjointing the time-space continuum

Let me elaborate. The social media pressures, probably need precious little further explanation. Everyone has to be perfect all of the time at all of the things, is a growing premise of social media.

In a sentence dripping with irony, check out our social media platforms this week for further focus on body neutrality, positive self-image and how to make yourself a masterplan at our forthcoming retreat.

So what about privacy and profit doing battle? As our lives got ever more efficient, thanks to deeper and wider technological advances, we kinda got too busy to keep caring about the things we used to care about.

So we click “I read this” to terms and conditions that we didn’t read, we accept cookies so that we can access content we want to read, we read and inadvertently learn the browser and social media giants’ tone of voice but we don’t know what they’re reading and learning about us, other than it’s a lot.

Which dovetails into the time-space continuum issue that technology presents (reader, I am earning that #pseudscorner hashtag that accompanies this post).

I’m not suggesting we go back to the days of dial-up modems, buffering, snail mail and telephones with a manual handling warning sticker attached.

But, raise your hand now and tell us your secret if you have managed to ride the digital revolution thus far without feeling a tad overwhelmed at any point about just how much you have to keep up with, friends, acquaintances, strangers, work, leisure, life goals and that’s just the 5 minutes on your morning coffee break that you used to spend heading to the kitchen to make a drink.

I was having an interesting conversation with Morveth from Business Cornwall at a Cornish Partnerships event last week and we concluded that it’s all about balance.

Nobody actually cares if you deliberated, cogitated and digested over the internet or social media platform of your choice this morning and lived up to the filtered ideals that the filtered algorithms sent in your direction.

So enjoy the mobility, the knowledge pool, the revenue potential of the technological world. But don’t forget in the process, what your brain and your body likes about the world that was there first, too.

Photo credit: GrowthFest 2018.

I’ll be musing On Angst next fortnight – get in touch with any particular aspects of that topic you’d like me to write about.

Happy Planning.