Apodaca: From wearable devices to robotic surgery, the horse has left the barn

With the holidays upcoming, it’s a safe bet that personal electronics will top the list of desired gifts, as they have for many years now. Stockings will be stuffed with smartphones and watches; tablets and laptops will be found under Christmas trees, and all the other gizmos and gadgets that are in demand will be given with loving and generous abandon.

It’s notable that my certainty about this outcome coincides with escalating concern over the outsized role that technology plays in our lives. Worries grow over the stress that comes from living a good part of our lives online and the noxious effect of social media on our psyches.

We talk about “doomscrolling,” an apt term — albeit, a depressingly dark one — for spending too much time reading negative news and commentary online. And misgivings abound over the fate of a generation of youth that has been raised with no other reality.

Certainly attempts are underway to try to reassert control.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, for example, is one of a few but growing number of districts leading the way with more restrictive cellphone policies that are aimed at reengaging distracted students. This year NMUSD has been rolling out these new curbs on cellphone use in class, while leaving room for experimentation and adjustments as the district attempts to land on the most workable solutions.

It’s a responsible, common-sense strategy. But now many in the education community have begun to ask: What about smart watches? Should these new policies include those devices as well?

Good questions, and there will be more. Wearable technologies are coming in hot and fast, and the fact is we have no idea what the full impact of these products will be. Sure, many of them could be useful, possibly even life saving. I use my Apple Watch to track my health, as recommended by one of my doctors. Smart rings could easily be a top gifting choice this year, particularly for seniors. Upcoming innovations will undoubtedly have similar appeal.

But the usefulness comes at a cost, and we’re nowhere near certain how great that cost could become.

It’s not just that we’re scrambling to catch up with a runaway horse. When it comes to our tech-addicted society, the horse isn’t just out of the barn. The barn has burned to the ground and the horse has galloped so far ahead that we fear we’ve lost the ability to bend it to our will. (In case it’s not entirely clear, the horse represents technology and the barn is the past as we remember it.)

That’s been our operating procedure throughout human history: Invent something that will alter society forever and figure out the consequences later.

I’ve heard of many people who have declared their intent to take a break and go offline for awhile in order to disengage from the toxicity that proliferates on the internet and social media. I understand the impulse to unplug, but I also wonder how long they can realistically expect their tech diets to last.

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I recently got a taste of how difficult it is to get by in this world without constantly engaging in cyberspace. This opportunity came to me through a relative who is, to put it mildly, technologically challenged.

This family member needed help navigating a crisis, which would have been impossible to accomplish on their own. I spent many hours dealing with agencies, banks, medical professionals and other entities, explaining over and over again that, no, you can’t email or text my relative. No, they can’t provide an e-signature on online documents. Can you mail a paper copy? Long silence.

I’m not complaining. OK, I guess I am a little. But the point remains that without someone to assist them through a world that now requires engagement with technology, this relative would have been left adrift and without viable options for moving forward.

On the other hand, I have also had reason lately to be immensely grateful for the progress that technological innovations can deliver. I’ve had two major surgeries this year, both robotically assisted, which provided many benefits, including smaller incisions and faster recoveries.

Right before the second surgery, I had a moment to glimpse the robotic equipment in the operating room. “Don’t worry,” the surgeon had assured me. “It will be me telling the robot what to do.” And, indeed, I spotted the machine that he would use to control the robot’s movements. I was awestruck. And then I was out.

Later, during my recovery, I had time to ponder the surgeon’s words, and the fact that he had felt the need to reassure me that he was controlling the robot — and not vice versa. I imagine that many patients had expressed concern and he had become accustomed to bolstering their confidence over who was in charge.

Yet it’s precisely that feeling that we are no longer in charge, not entirely, that worries us — from students who can’t concentrate because their phones are wrenching their attention away from studies to older folks who just feel lost in a technological maze. That niggling thought will be with us as we dole out goodies this Christmas — and possibly forever after.