In order to be able to harness power, you first have to acknowledge power exists. And to some, knowledge no longer is power, but mobile phones are. For real. Mobiles are such a part of a person’s life that the quality of this life is changing. Most of us don’t even realise this, even though the quality of our life isn’t necessarily changed for the better. In fact, the technology that we consider liberating may just enslave us.
Academic Study of the Psychology of Mobile Phones
Studying the psychology of mobile phones has become a real field of study. In popular culture, this is now known as Mobilology. It studies how our mobiles affect our behaviour, our communities, our culture, our economics and our entertainment. Essentially, with a mobile, we can talk to the whole world, but we can do a lot more as well. If we want them to do social good, we have to know how to maximise the fact that we can speak to the world.
Humanity and Technology — Match Made in Heaven or Hell?
Technology is about pushing forward into the unknown, with a collective action and the goal is to exploit. Humanity is about looking at the individual, working together and raising our consciousness. Not quite the same thing, but both equally necessary. We must ensure technology enhances our humanity and does not take steps to degrade it.
Mobilology
So, Mobilology focuses on the social science behind mobiles, rather than their technology. It looks at how it affects our lives in the five sectors (behaviour, culture, community, entertainment, economic), but also looks at banking, education and health and anything else that will come along its path. The idea is that Mobilology will bring people together to learn about each other, whilst understanding that technology may just start to flatten unique cultures. Those countries that have had little influence from the Western world have diverse cultures, which seem to vanish as soon as the West — and its technologies — start to intervene.
The Sky Is the Limit
Through Mobilology, it may be possible to provide education to the third world and to open up possibilities for networking and communication. Access to information should be a human right, and mobile technology can play a huge role in executing that right.
Think of it on a biological level: an infant is attached to its mother through the umbilical cord. The power cord, which connects us to our electronic devices, is the new umbilical cord. However, soon, most technology will go solar, meaning we have lost that umbilical cord. And then what? What will be the world after that?
We must remember the distress mobiles can cause us as well. One video placed on YouTube can ruin our lives. Cyber bullying, done mainly via mobile phones that have access to Facebook and Twitter have led to suicide. It is, as always about educating that when you have the power to change the world, you should change it for the better.
Clark knew his new Samsung Genio Qwerty Black had all sorts of functionalities, including social media. He is now trying to spread messages of positive energy and make the world a better place.