The other day my mom and I were having a conversation, and we started talking about the future of technology. She was convinced that soon everyone will have a cell phone built into their thumb, and that the future of technology is in its integration with biology. Everyone will become more and more wired and interconnected.

I couldn’t disagree more.

One of the most basic human needs is the ability to escape. Escape from responsibilities, escape from reality, escape from bills, etc. That includes technology. There will always be a human need to escape from technology. As we become more wired and interconnected, we also increase the need to do the inverse, disconnect and reflect at a slower pace. Without the balance between wired and unwired, humans will go nuts. There will always be a need for balance.

So the future won’t be full of people with cell phones in their thumbs. My own mother can’t stand to answer the phone when she’s home, how could she stand to answer the phone when it’s built into her thumb? What about telemarketers? How would you feel if every telemarketer who called your thumb phone rang in your head? Or worse, what if someone managed to hack the thumb phone, and make every one’s thumb phone ring nonstop in their head? The connection between humans and technology must be seperable.

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