Technology and humans are increasingly getting entwined. With the fact that we rely heavily on technology to manage our lives better; we use it to get our work done, shop online for our needs and even wants, get to read the daily news, stay in touch with people, manage our finances and

the list goes on and on.

 

When we consume information online, use digital channels, try new technology or even browse websites to look for products to purchase, it needs to be easy to use or else, we will just let it go.

 

With the exponential advances in technology, a contra stance starts to evoke; a push-back. And it is not because we want less of these advances but in fact, we are craving for better, faster, and even cheaper technology. Instead, it is because of these mechanical arithmetic and increasingly invasive technologies are leaving us feeling controlled and ironically, disconnected.

 

After decades of building technology to make humans more effective and efficient or eliminate the need for them to get involved in all manner of tasks, we reached a point in which, efficiency and automation are no longer enough. It is becoming de-humanising. It seems we want our technology; we want it to be more human. And as a response to this, a lot of promising efforts surfaced in making technology and digital interactions more human-friendly.

 

We are so involved with technology that we do not even realize how much it affects and changes our daily lives; the availability of technology makes us more impatient and crave for so much convenience. And so, technology continuously evolves and advances to meet our human

needs.

One of the greatest advancements in technology is the birth of blockchain; blockchain technology typically refers to the transparent, trustless, publicly accessible ledger that allows people to securely transfer the ownership of units of value using public key encryption and proof of work methods. A blockchain is simply a time-stamped series of unchangeable records of data that is managed by a group of computers not owned by any single entity.

 

The blockchain network has no central authority which means it is not centrally controlled by a bank, corporation or even the government. In fact, the larger the network grows and becomes

increasingly decentralised, the more secure it becomes.

 

Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or almost impossible to change or hack the system. Each block in the chain contains a number of transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger. The decentralised database managed by multiple participants is known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

 

The Bitcoin Network is the first ever successful implementation of blockchain technology, but

the potential for blockchain technology is not just limited to bitcoin. As such, it has gained a lot of attention in a variety of industries including: financial services, charities, and nonprofits, the arts, and e-commerce.

Blockchain’s mission is truly transformational.

 

Transparency and decentralisation on a global are one of the many things, technology promises people; taking away the need for us to place trust in Old World institutions and other traditional

gatekeepers. As a result, blockchain will give power back to individuals in an unprecedented way.

 

But the reality is:

 

The society is not fully ready to embrace, let alone adopt, blockchain.

 

We are still in the early stages of the technology, and most of us are just starting to grasp what

blockchain can even do. Humans are naturally skeptical of unfamiliar things, and it’s unreasonable to expect everyone to suddenly pour out their money into a strange new system. It is normal for our defenses to go up, especially at the beginning of any large-scale revolution.

 

What would be the use of any new technology if it does not ease suffering, or empower people?

 

And to alleviate that suspicions and clarify the benefits of blockchain, we need to see ourselves as educators. Knowledge is what gives us the power to trust, and people cannot have faith in something they cannot fully understand. We have to clearly explain and define it, share stories on using it, and how it can improve our daily lives, all of these while staying true to our core values.

 

Despite the fact that the society is not that ready to totally embrace blockchain, humans are craving to fully understand and relate with this new technology that came about.

 

Humans want our technology advances, and they want it to be more human.

Another way to gain trust to the concept of blockchain is by storytelling.

 

Telling real stories of how this new technology can solve our everyday problems is a powerful

and effective method of relating to an audience; it helps illustrate practical applications. Sharing

news, cases and articles describing how blockchain can improve people’s everyday lives, and spreading the word to people who are willing to listen will make a big difference.

 

Storytelling allows you to reach more people as this is an effective skill that when developed and used purposefully, can greatly contribute to inclusion and connection – and when people feel that they are connected to something, they become more open to accepting new ideas or even new technology in this case.

 

When we get humans to fully understand and relate to blockchain technology, uncertainties and ambiguity will be overcame.

Education is nothing without a personal connection – to gain people’s trust, you need to make

them feel that you have their best interests in mind and that you are not just trying to make money out of blockchain technology.

 

One way to show your intentions are good is by sharing your core values; explain what your global mission is, and how blockchain technology will play a big role in making that happen. Once your audience understands your values, they can believe in who you are as a person, what you are aiming for, and how you are going to make things happen.

 

Being open about your core values build a deeper level of trust than just sharing facts and doing storytelling alone; it allows your audience to see themselves in you, it builds a solid, long-term connection.

 

Education is the real key to humanising blockchain or any other technology, and we all need to be educators.

The ultimate factor that decides whether are technology will be adopted is not about its technical

and sophistication aspects at all. The most essential aspect is how well a technology understands and can support our human cognitive capabilities and enhance how we do things naturally. It needs to be easy to understand, convenient, well-engineered, and optimized around people and their habits.

 

When deciding between to productivity apps that basically do the same thing, most people will gravitate towards the one that has a slicker interface, looks easier to use, has clear menus and descriptions, and therefore, is intrinsically more human-friendly.

We, humans experience the wonders of the world through our five senses, and machines do

not. That is why we can see the evolution of technology – increasingly attempting to communicate with us the way that we know how and want to. Such as using conversational interfaces, like chatbots that are integrated with the advances in voice recognition and natural language processing technologies to make us feel like we are talking with a real human, not a machine.

 

We human wants to feel and see that the technology evolves into something far more sensate than they are mechanical.

 

Lastly, thing is that humans crave for balance – a state of equilibrium. The physiological and psychological drive to lessen the tension and maintain internal stability – when we are hungry,

we seek for some food to eat; when we are drowned with a lot of questions, we look for

answers; and when we are confronted with ambiguity, we search for certainty. Today’s technology is making humans feel discomfort and dissonance that are rooted from being out of balance – in which comes from the unrelenting focus on technology advancement that makes humans feel that they are being left behind.

 

Humanising technology will require software that has been reverse-engineered from the human experience, rather than its technical functionality or sophistication; it should be about making technology look, sound, and feel MORE human.

 

It should advance humanity; a push-forward.