Growing Human Dependence on Electronic Gadgets: A Literature Review

This literature review explores the increasing reliance of humans on electronic gadgets, examining their impact on mental and physical health. The review analyzes various studies to understand how this dependence affects children and adults, including the potential for addiction. It covers the effects of digital tools, the negative impacts on human health (such as physical strains, sleep disorders, and potential links to stress and depression), and the rise of electronic device addiction as a behavioral issue. The review also touches on the Internet of Things and its contribution to the digital universe, highlighting the potential loss of analytical skills and the need to analyze the real-time impact of growing dependence on electronic gadgets. The conclusion stresses the importance of analyzing the real-time impact of growing dependency on electronic gadgets, recognizing their impact on lifestyle and potential health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes. The review emphasizes the need to balance the benefits of technology with awareness of its potential adverse effects.

Growing Dependence of Humans on
Electronic Machines and Gadgets
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Abstract
In the current era modern technological gadgets have become part and parcel of human’s life and
more people are getting dependent on these electronic gadgets and devices. The level of
dependency is such that in some cases like mobile phones, tablets and video games it is turning
into addition of electronic devices or gadgets. This literature review analyses that impact of
growing dependency of human beings on electronic gadgets and how does it impact their mental
health and wellbeing as well as physical health. This literature review will analyse various
studies conducted in the related field and how does the electronic devices and dependence on
them impact the children in our society.
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Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................4
2. Literature Review........................................................................................................................4
2.1 Electronic devices or Gadgets...............................................................................................4
2.2 Impact of Digital Tools on Humans......................................................................................4
2.3 Dependency and Impact of Electronic Gadgets on Children.................................................6
2.4 Negative Effect of Electronic on Human Health...................................................................6
2.5 Electronic Device Addiction..................................................................................................7
3. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................9
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1. Introduction
An electronic gadget is a small tool or a machine that performs specific function and is often
believed to be a novelty. There is no work as such that can be done without taking assistance
from electronic machines or gadgets. This literature review thus critically analyses the growing
dependence of human beings on electronic machines as well as gadgets by analysing the
previous research conducted in this field.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Electronic devices or Gadgets
The term “gadget” means the portable electronic devices which are part of one or more of the
following categories: gaming consoles, MP3 player’s mobile phones or various other wireless
enabled devices (Lee, 2005). It has been found that globally the smartphone users have crossed
the mark of one billion users in the year 2012 (Emarketer, 2014). It is expected that in the global
electronics market 4.55 billion people will be using mobile phones by the year end 2014. Thus
the penetration of mobile phones will increase from 61.1% to 69.4% between 2013 and 2017
(Abu-Tair & Abu-Shanab, 2014). Already electronic gadgets have turned out to be in extensive
use by people of all age groups, but in case of young generation electronic gadgets and
technology has a substantial stake in their educational as well as social lives. They are exposed to
various electronic gadgets or devices since childhood like video games, computer, Internet, cell
phones and various other forms of technology (Nakel & Naval, 2015).
2.2 Impact of Digital Tools on Humans
In past few decades the relationship of human beings with information and communication
technologies has turned out to be quite intimate .For example Smartphones have become an
inseparable companion of humans with a huge list of apps , smart appliances , wearable’s which
allows generation, storage as well as collection of large volumes of data regarding each and
every aspect of life. There are large number of people who are using electronic gadgets or life
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hacks due to social, health related or economic reasons or just because of sheer curiosity and
personal enjoyment (Sharon, 2016).
The digital tools are impacting human ontologies because humans are adapting both the
environment as well as themselves to the more and more complex ICTs. The new electronic
devices with their advanced technologies are teaching or educating human beings as users. This
kind of integration makes use of large ‘envelopment’ of the physical world in which we live
(Florida 2012). Envelopment which was regarded as a stand-alone phenomenon for example in
case of a dishwasher it is a machine or gadget that is built around an enveloped
“microenvironment” or the one which is being constrained by specific space for example a car
factory where hundreds of robots work. However , there are several ubiquitous cell towers as
well as Wi-Fi hotspots that have already enveloped and then transformed the physical
environment, thus making our world more technology friendly where the ubiquitous smart
devices are capable of gathering, transferring and then processing vast amount of data
permanently (Hernandez- ramirez, 2017).
Cognition is enabling a completely new class of products as well as services in order to reason,
learn as well as sense about the users and the world in which they live. Thus electronic devices
along with their technology allow continuous improvement as well as adaptation. They also help
in augmentation of their capabilities so as to deliver various uses that were not previously
imagined. This can be seen happening with medical devices, various appliances, cars as well as
in case of toys. The Internet of Things (IoT) is helping in expanding the digital universe through
its products and unique services by including the products and services with cognition (Kelly III,
2015).
Thus there is seen a rise in the dependence on electronic gadgets which is casting negative
impact on several talents for example mathematical intuitions. For example, it has been seen that
the quality of handwriting of human beings has seen a decline due to heavy usage of computer
keyboards. People have become highly dependent on cell phones instead of their personal
memory to store the telephone numbers as well as various other information. Although these
gadgets and devices prove to be very useful but they are simultaneously triggering an alarm
because we humans are losing analytical capability as well as professional intuition. Human
beings are becoming too much dependent on the various technologies applied in electronic
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devices that they are unable to perform simple tasks without the electronic gadgets or devices.
Computers as well as other electronic gadgets are considered to be very wonderful tools which
help humans in various walks of life, but they should never be considered as replacements for
human creativity, thinking as well as human intelligence (Means & Mubarak, 2012).
2.3 Dependency and Impact of Electronic Gadgets on Children
Large number of children is seen to be hooked to television, computers, tablets or mobile phones
watching favourite shows or playing games instead of playing outdoors. In the past two decades
the frequency of watching television has grown twice. This seriously impacts the health of
children. Obesity is considered to be a major issue which is found gripping children who use
more electronic gadgets. The reason being children now-a-days prefer to eat food as well in front
of television or watching mobile phones. These kids avoid all kinds of physical activity and
prefer spending their time with electronic gadgets. Thus a child who will be using more of
electronic gadgets will be depending more on them and will not be using their skills and
knowledge for their work (Deepak, 2016).
2.4 Negative Effect of Electronic on Human Health
Although technology has had positive effects on society but on the flip side it is casting severe
negative impacts as well on human health Electronic gadgets pose serious possible risks as well
as hazards to human health. It causes physical strains as excessive texting as well as swiping in
case of smartphones and tablets results in inflated tendons, index fingers, as well as thumb joints.
In case of electronic devices like tablets smartphones there’s is excessive use of thumbs and
index finger which results in pain in wrist, weakness of the grip over a prolonged usage of these
devices. Excessive use of handheld devices like tables, cell phones or gaming consoles results in
poor postures for example hunched back, rounded shoulders or forward head (Greenlifetsyle,
2014).
The artificial light emitted by the mobile phones or tablets hinders the pineal glands and its
stops producing melatonin , a hormone which stabilises the human body’s circadian rhythm or
commonly known as 24-hour biological clock (Greenlifetsyle, 2014). Heavy use of electronic
devices is usually found to be connected with increase in stress, depression in men and women as
well as sleeping disorders. Sleep related issues are found more in people working in ICT industry
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as they have to work on computer intensively and have to communicate all through the day on
mobile phone. In the same way handheld gizmos do act as entertainment tool, but they result in
gaming addiction and it is not juts children but adults too become addicted to video games. This
causes repetitive strain injuries and at the same time prolonged use causes sedentary lifestyle,
which finally results in obesity. Moreover, some of the electronic devices or gadgets also emit
radiations which might increase the risk of cancer. While some researchers believe that the
radiations emitted from electronic gadgets kills neurons or weakens the immunity system
(Greenlifetsyle, 2014).
2.5 Electronic Device Addiction
Electronic Device Addiction can be called as a kind of behavioural addiction in which man-made
machines interactions are involved. With the advancement in technology there is seen
diversification as well as accentuation towards being addicted to electronic gadgets (Susila et al.,
2017) . This technology addition started with radios and then trickled down to television and has
now reached the mobile phones. In this decade there has been huge evolution in the field of
mobile phones , emerging as smart phones as well as they are incorporated with social media
and is the leading addictive electronic gadget (Subba et al., 2013). Mobile phone addiction has
been described by psycho analysts as award seeking behaviour. Mainly the young population is
seen to be pre-occupied with electronic gadgets mainly the mobile phones (Griffiths, 2015).
Television addiction started as it is the most accessible mass media for both literates as well as
illiterates. But it is also the leading mass medium which helps in educating, entertaining,
watching news and movies for the common people. With the launch of Smart TVs in late 2010s,
that also have integrated internet function, the popularity of television has increased amongst the
young generation again. Being addicted to electronic devices like television or mobile phones is
considered to be a compulsive behaviour which is almost same as compulsive behaviour (Susila
et al., 2017). Thus humans are getting addicted to electronic devices and this is leading type of
behavioural addiction to be seen amongst them that needs to be investigated.
3. Conclusion
Technology is producing large number of electronic gadgets and devices to make our lives easier
and better. The recently developed IT driven gadgets are very lucrative and fast catching the
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attention of current generation especially the youth and children . This leads to higher level of
dependence of younger generation on these gadgets which results in electronic gadgets addiction
amongst them. This is kind of behavioural addiction which brings about negative impacts as well
as there can be neurological impairments. Using gadgets for a longer period of time also causes
negative impacts on the health. There can be issues like headaches, depression, and anxiety.
Tech-gadgets addiction also impacts the lifestyle of the people who are very much dependent on
them and this might result in lifestyle diseases like obesity or diabetes. Thus it becomes all the
more necessary to analyse the real time impact of growing dependency on electronic gadgets.
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Bibliography
Abu-Tair, H. & Abu-Shanab, E., 2014. Mobile Government Services: Challenges and
Opportunities. International Journal of Technology Diffusion, 5(1), pp.17-25.
Deepak, S., 2016. Addiction to gadgets increasing. The Hindu, 3 June.
Emarketer, 2014. Smartphone Users Worldwide Will Total 1.75 Billion in 2014. [Online]
Available at: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Smartphone-UsersWorldwide-Will-Total-175-
Billion-2014/1010536 [Accessed 6 October 2017].
Ewles, L., 2005. Key Topics in Public Health: Essential Briefings on Prevention and Health
Promotion. Elsevier.
Greenlifetsyle, 2014. THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF ELECTRONICS ON HUMAN
HEALTH. greenlifestylemarket, 11 July.
Griffiths, M.D., 2015. Internet addiction: Fact or fiction?. The Psychologist: Bulletin of the
British Psychology Society, 12, pp.246-50.
Hernandez- ramirez, R., 2017. Technologies of Self - How are digital tools affecting human
ontologies. Lisbon, POrtugal: Faculty of Fine Arts , University of Lisbon.
Kelly III, J.E., 2015. Computing, cognition and the future of knowing. IBM.
Lee, D., 2005. Women’s creation of camera phone Cultue. The Fibreculture Journal., (6).
Means, R.S. & Mubarak, S.A., 2012. How to Estimate with RSMeans Data: Basic Skills for
Building Construction. John Wiley & Sons.
Nakel, M.P. & Naval, S., 2015. Study of Impact and Dependency of Electronic Gadgets on
Health & Life Style of Students -A Comparative Study Among Youth Population in MGM
Campus, Aurangabad. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 6(5), pp.2174-78.
Sharon, T., 2016. Self-Tracking for Health and the Quantified Self : Rearticulating autonomy,
solidarity and authenticiuty in an age of personalised helathcare. Philosphy & Technology, 30(1).
Subba, S., Mandelia, C., PataK, V. & Reddy, D., 2013. Ringxiety and the Mobile Phone Usage
Pattern among the Students of aMedical College in South India. Journal of Clinica and
Diagnostic Research, 7(2), pp.205-09.
Susila, T. et al., 2017. A cross sectional study on electronic device addiction among youth in an
urban area, Chennai. Stanley Medical Journal, 4(1).
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