Ethics for the New Millenium

I'm reading Ethics for the New Millenium, by the Dalai Lama. I was wondering how relevant his commentary might be to design and technology. He gets to it almost straight away, this is from the first chapter:

"The paradox whereby inner - or we could say psychological and emotional - suffering is so often found amid material wealth is readily apparent throughout much of the West. Indeed, it is so pervasive that we might wonder whether there is something in Western culture which predisposes people living there to such kinds of suffering? This i doubt. So many factors are involved. Clearly, material development itself has a role to play. But we can also cite the increasing urbanization of modern society, where high concentrations of people live in close proximity to one another. In this context, consider that in place of our dependence on one another for support, today, wherever possible, we tend to rely on machines and services. Whereas formerly farmers would call in all their family members to help with the harvest, today they simply telephone a contractor. We find modern living organized so that it depends the least possible direct dependence on others. The more or less universal ambition seems to be for everyone to own their own house, their own car, their own computer, and so on in order to be as independent as possible. This is natural and understandable. The increasing autonomy that people enjoy as a result of advances in science and technology has its good points. In fact, it is possible today to be far more independent of others than ever before. But with these developments, there has arisen a sense that my future is not dependent on my neighbour but rather on my job or, at most, my employer. This is turn encourages us to suppose that because others are not important for my happiness, their happiness is not important to me".

I read this as technology having taken us further away from our dependence on each other. Or at least from our awareness of our need for dependence on each other. We have come to rely more on our tools, and less on each other. Whilst this has clear benefits, it has obscured the simple fact that we are deeply reliant on each other, and that our sense of wellbeing and purpose is tied to this reliance. It has skewed our culture more towards (the evolutionary psychology definition of) status seeking behaviour, and away from reciprocal altruism. A culture of me, I, now, and so on. This is important not just because this inter-dependence directly effects our own happiness, but because it is a necessary ingredient of morality. Having these foundations in our lives promotes ethical behaviour. A sense of connectivity and community creates trust and empathy, the ingredients of reciprocal altruism, which in turn (along with kin selection) underpins morality.

What is fascinating to me about social networking is that it is reversing this trend that the Dalai Lama is describing. We are creating technology that is making our connections to and need for communication with others more apparent to us. Where we are able to quantify and value our social network, and place more importance on it than, for example, what car we drive. The Dalai Lama is no doubt right that some of our Western existential anxt is coming from this lack of social interconnectivity. This suggests that building technologies that explicitly emphasize, illustrate, reward and encourage connection could lead to a reversal in this cultural trend. A trend that started pretty much with the industrial revolution, and accelerated dramatically across the 20th century. And a trend that fuels, in my opinion, much of what I'd call unethical behaviour today.

He goes on to say:

"We have, in my view, created a society in which people find it harder and harder to show one another basic affection. In place of the sense of community and belonging, which we find such a reassuring feature of less wealthy (and generally rural) societies, we find a high degree of loneliness and alienation. Despite the fact that millions live in close proximity to one another, it seems that many people, especially among the old, have no one to talk to but their pets. Modern industrial society often strikes me as being like a huge self-propelled machine. Instead of human beings in charge, each individual is a tiny, insignificant component with no choice but to move when the machine moves".

Despite being assailed by a constant stream of advertising and advertorial thinly disguised as content, all telling us to focus on ourselves, our status, appearance and trappings of success, we are still lonely and unhappy. The emotional payoff promised in the sexy tagline turned out to be a lie. And through that loneliness and isolation comes a realization that all of that materialism and retail therapy isn't going to help us. That going out to buy yet another "thing "won't fill the void.

I am optimistic. Business may realize that we are looking for products and services that bring us closer together, not ones that separate us (through appeals to individualism and so on). That it is inherently unsatisfying to only be known by what we achieve and what we own, and that this needs to be balanced by what we do for others, and what communities we belong to. The web has created the possibility to create sustainable businesses that provides a platform for this. Now we just have to do it.