Modern life and its effect on our health

 

It is not easy to pinpoint exactly why our agitated, chaotic and uncertain modern life affects our health so profoundly.

Many studies focus on the obvious factors. We sit for long periods, spend countless hours in front of screens, eat highly processed foods, sleep less than we should and live under the constant risk of stress and burnout. These factors certainly matter and their impact on physical and mental health is increasingly well documented.

Yet I am interested in something more subtle.

We are living through one of the greatest transformations in human history. For the first time, billions of people are connected almost continuously. Messages, news, videos, opinions, alerts and demands arrive every minute of every day. Although research is still trying to understand the long-term consequences of this hyperconnected world, it seems obvious that something is changing in the way we perceive reality.

Our attention is fragmented, silence has become rare, waiting is quite uncomfortable and relationships are increasingly mediated by screens. Even our sense of self can become influenced by the endless flow of information.

No doubt that technology has brought extraordinary benefits as it allows us to learn, communicate, work and access knowledge in ways that previous generations could hardly imagine; I am a living proof of the achievements facilitated by IT. It is difficult to imagine society stepping back from these conveniences. After all, you may be reading this article comfortably from your home, a café, a park or while travelling, because of it, instead of being chained to one place.

The challenge, then, is not to reject modern life, but to learn how to live well within it.

For me, this means investing time and energy in four important areas.

1. Lifestyle. This is an area completely intertwined with health. And maybe it is not something about radical changes. It begins with an intention: the desire to take care of ourselves. Healthy eating, regular exercise, meaningful relationships and positive habits, all contribute to physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Add to that positive reading and trips to learn and we have a wonderful way to change the impact of modern life.

2. Movement. Movement is more than exercise and although many people do workout, they go and then spend the rest of the day sitting… Our bodies were designed to move: walking, visiting friends, attending a spiritual gathering, spending time in a park or simply leaving the house can make a significant difference. Movement reconnects us with life itself.

3. Relaxation. Perhaps one of the greatest needs of our time is genuine relaxation. Modern life constantly stimulates the mind and notifications, deadlines, emails and messages keep the nervous system in a near-permanent state of alertness. We need moments of recovery: a deep sleep, quiet walks, periods of time completely disconnected and moments when nothing is demanded of us. A period of detox will be nice… Relaxation is not a luxury; it is maintenance for the mind and body.

4. Meditation. If there is one practice that can transform our relationship with modern life, it is meditation. Meditation allows us to step back from the noise and reconnect with our inner world: it restores clarity, stability, and perspective. Instead of being carried away by the speed of life, we learn to observe, understand, and respond with greater wisdom. For me, meditation is not an escape from modern life, but a way of making modern life more meaningful.

The world will probably continue to become faster, more connected, more uncertain and more complex and we may not be able to change that. What we can do is to choose how we live within it.

Newness for an old tradition

 

The robot looks strangely at the object he had just assembled at the entrance of the beautiful house.

His daily work is vast, but he does not complain; it is not in its programming... It simply does what it has to do in the best possible way, with the precision of an advanced science.

Everyone praises the quality of its food, both in nutrition and taste. Everyone is surprised by the cleanliness of the house, the clothes so well ironed, the dishes washed and everything else that a home entails.

At night, it sleeps like everyone else, recharging the battery. The next day, it goes back to work based on what it is told.

Even this strange object...

A Christmas tree.

For the robot, it's like anything else, but it's the first time that the inhabitants of that house showed so much interest by participating along with it in the task of the tree. And while the robot watches, people keep placing packages under it. Why?

Using the fantastic artificial intelligence that distinguishes it, in a quick search, it shows that they are Christmas gifts, a way to exchange love... Ten months ago, when it went to serve this house, that word came up in the middle of many conversations, overheard by the robot, who could never understand it well.

The next day, after a lot of work, much more than usual, the robot prepares to go to sleep when its master calls it. He is happy, more than usual, he takes one of the packages under the tree and hands it to the robot. On a sign, the robot's internal system is able to discern a word: JUANCITO.

Consciously, the robot knows that this is its code for these people, how to recognize that they require something from it. After a few microseconds of processing, the robot manages to interpret what was happening.

This package has his name on it.

This package is therefore his.

According to what he researched, it is a sign of love...

For another microsecond, he feels something... As if something internally had changed.

Delicately, according to his programming, he takes the package and thanks.

He takes it to the station where he lives, right next to the washing machine, and as he prepares to recharge overnight, he opens the package, as delicately as he had taken it.

Searching the networks, he finds that he had been given a hat, something quite useless, not practical for his day to day. Still, without knowing why, he puts it on his head and goes to sleep...

For the next few days and months, the robot would wear his hat without fail. Questioned by the company about their performance, the owners of the house could not be happier with his services.

For years, no one would be able to explain the old-fashioned robot that continued to serve a certain family, and his strange hat, complemented by a scarf, a Hawaiian shirt - on which he placed a tie - and all sorts of other elements...

Nor would they be able to explain the number of electronic elements that the members of that house carried, all with a little word written – and hidden, as they had to find it: JUANCITO.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A few IT tips…

I have worked in the IT area for many years and I still flex my tech muscles from time to time. Even though I want to help people to have some tech detox, it hurts that many people really suffers with the present technology.

So, I would like to give you a few tips that may be helpful and I hope are easy to implement:

• Read manuals. Yes, read them… take your time to do it and do it. If your product does not come with a manual, look for it in a searcher like Google, for instance, Samsung Z4 Manual. Another way is to Read articles or watch videos that help you to handle the product; search How to and indicate what you want to do. And what you are going to use will be something permanent or it is key for your productivity, I strongly recommend a course.
• Chose passwords that are easy to remember, but that are difficult for others to guess. For instance, you can choose your pet’s birthday, but the date in a way that only you will be able to understand (12Nov2010 can be turned into BeforeThanksGiving). If you are a foreigner of a different language than the place you live or work, choose something in that language, and if you are visual, mix numbers and letters: M1x#s&L3tt3rs (Mix Numbers And Letters).
• NEVER save your bank or other sensitive information. Yes, every time I check my bank balance or want to do an operation, I type all over again… This is very important, since there is a big crisis in information technological security.
• If a website is not working, just wait a bit… If an app is not responding, just wait a bit. ¿Computer is too slow? Just wait a bit… Many problems get solved if you just wait a bit.
• DON’T CHANGE YOUR EQUIPMENT EVERY YEAR. Even though most people will tell you that if you learn to use a cell phone and you change it, it is very easy to adapt, that is simply not true. There is a learning curve and in many cases, it is increasing. I myself try to stick at least to the same brand of cell phones.

Hope these are useful and if you need more clarification, I may help you with that.

The soft side of a technical person

Many years ago, whilst taking a very important course that eventually would change my life, someone mocked of engineers in general due to their lack of communication skills and general sensitivity to other people.

As I identify myself as a technical person, I felt… It was fair, but not a nice thing to hear.

I understand what this person has meant as it is very common a technical person using logic instead of feelings while taking a decision or talking to other people, and although it works well, it doesn’t cover all dimensions.

A good example for me was when I was a programmer. My aim was to create good effective software for users, to save their time and to help the organization, but I really didn’t take in account their difficulties or issues at the time of implementation. One of the features of a particular application was a command that would display the present time (yes, I am talking about long, long time ago, when computers did not display the present time). The user struggled with that function and eventually, to save memory, I planned to eliminate it completely, and of course, I’ve blamed the user! Today, I see the problem was not the lack of effort by him, but my lack of proper communication and effort to training the user.

Many years later, an auditor shared a story. The company was going through SAP implementation, something that is costly in terms of money and energy, and many times have resistance from the part of users.

His company used to produce and sold beers. In this particular case, they were dealing with the delivery: a truck would come, present a sheet with all the order details, the person in charge would input that into the system, receive the proper authorization; then the truck would load the boxes of beer and leave.

However, the computer was far from the gate, about 100 meters, so the employee used to take time to reach there… due to that, he started to get slack in relation to the system, giving the beers and later inputting the information. Eventually, the company was robbed – it was only when the young man introduced the details realized the order was fake, which was too late, as the truck had left already. My surprise was that the auditor did not blame the employee and worked hard to fix the situation. Technical people do understand others…

A few years later, I had the opportunity to work with a very technical team. When we were planning the workshop, as a surprise, one of our meetings took place at the general manager’s home as he was still on vacation. He opened his house and the hearts of the family to us and it was beautiful to see a very human interaction. I was inspired and the workshop with them started by identifying their dreams…

Nobody is uni-dimensional. We are very complex people, with many layers and many levels. If you are a technical person, enjoy that soft side; if you have a friend or relative who is technical, enjoy their soft side. It is always there…

How to work your ITC muscles

I just wanted to buy something quite simple, a presentation remoter. So, I started to research and after almost one hour, I really did not have it clear... Which one is the best for me, really? I had to use lots of my, well, ITC muscles to do that one task...

ITC has grown and expand in a way that created a fractal map of possibilities for any person to use it in a way both, productive and for leisure. In fact, even when you do make a good purchase and you are satisfied with that, something will bother you... perhaps a friend who got a better model or the fact you found out something that is not working.

I personally feel challenged when I am faced with any decision related to technology. I was grown up learning it and that was the first part of my professional life. Even now, I still work on software a little bit, trying to be up-to-dated to whatever is happening out there, trying to have an opinion about what is better and what is worse.

What to do? There are a few things I do myself especially when I have to make a decision on which gizmo to purchase:

• If you are not an expert in technology, use Google abundantly. Don't forget to set the dates filter, otherwise sometimes very old information comes first.
• To look for something, try to put in words very clearly what you really want or need. Check with friends who are in the IT area. Forums are a good source of information too.
• Be suspicious of comments on equipment that are praising it too much - most of the technology is flawed by nature. As someone said, the only certain thing about any piece of technology is that there will be a defect. Good comments highlight the good and bad side.
• If you can find someone who has whatever you want to buy, ask them to let you take a look. Touch. Type in. Listen. It will definitely help you.
• In relation to investment, if it is not something you really need (but want) and if you are really not sure about it go for the cheapest thing. Ok, the second cheapest thing. Reason: you will probably have to change it for something else after one or two years...

Good luck with your own ITC muscles!

When science fails

Nowadays you can have all you want, and talk to anyone you want. However, the big tendency nowadays is to live alone. Also, you have medicine in its state of art. And never before we had that many sicknesses.

Somehow, humans have tried to replace whatever they lack with science and its children, like technology. But it is not working. Yes, it gives you a temporary feeling that you are getting what you want, but then, after a while, you realise you still don't have it. And you cannot get anything only using science.

You can talk to people using science, but you cannot communicate with them only relying on science. You need to trust them too, you need patience, perseverance and a bunch of other values which will enable you to really forge a relationship.

You can use medicine - by the way, you should! - but you won't be healthier because of that. Real health starts from lifestyle, from the way you think and see the world, and your own relationship with your body and other people's bodies.

Science is good, and I use lots of it in my day-to-day life. But I am aware it can't replace reality. Reality is still outside this blog, this connection and this computer.

As an author, I like to provide new perspective.