The Human Encounter With New Technogenic Threats

Abstract

The paper focuses on humankind prospects of existence and development against the backdrop of uncontrolled implementation of information technologies. The essential feature of modern mass consciousness, as found in media and cognitive sources, is a computer euphoria -an unconditional belief that innovative technological means can solve all social problems. People perceive this belief and live with it in a new digital reality, assuming that informatization is the only possible way for society to develop successfully. The authors offer a systematic analysis of a person's place in the computerized world and show that the technological innovations expansion triggers new social and socio-psychological problems caused by the complex nature interaction between people and the most advanced intelligent systems. The paper reviews such problems as reliability and ergonomics, availability and safety of information technology, as well as computer competency and psychological readiness of a person.Through the lens of the phenomenological method the authors study and determine the latent bases of the negative consequences of the information technology influence on a person, paying special attention to psychological aspects. Deployment of IT threats will inevitably lead to the new scientific and technological ideas defamation and the loss of faith in technological progress. To elude this dangerous tendency, socio-humanitarian expertise is needed, which provides at the legislative level. the analysis of technical innovations' social impact and control over the new technologies implementation regarding possible risks for the physical and mental health of a person.