High Tech, Low Life: Are we living in a cyberpunk dystopia and how can we wake up from it?

From digital fascination to human degradation. Can we use technology for real progress, rather than escape?

Technology has advanced, humanity has regressed

We live in an era where all the tools of the future already fit in our pockets, yet it feels as if we are losing control. Technology has arrived and it arrived in style: artificial intelligence writes, speaks, creates, and monitors. Smart cities are being built, neural networks predict behavior, and digital currencies threaten to replace paper money. And humanity?

Instead of “high life”—a life of high quality, mental peace, and spiritual stability—we have been given a screen in front of our faces and an algorithm behind our backs. We are inheriting a world that increasingly resembles a cyberpunk novel: technologically impressive, but socially fractured.

Cyberpunk: A lifestyle no one actually wanted

Cyberpunk as a genre in fiction was always a warning, not a roadmap. Worlds like those in Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, or Cyberpunk 2077 depict futuristic cities under neon lights, filled with AI assistants, drones, and biometric surveillance. Yet in those worlds:

People are emotionally empty.
Corporations hold more power than states.
Privacy does not exist.
Poverty and alienation are everyday realities.

Sound familiar?

Cyberpunk is no longer fiction. It has become our “normal” world. Neon lights have been replaced by screens glowing late into the night. People no longer communicate face to face, but through avatars. Surveillance is invisible, yet constant. Everything looks “high tech,” but in reality, it is “low life.”

How did we end up in “high tech – low life”?

We didn’t arrive here overnight. It was a series of small steps, often presented as progress:

Social media replaced real social relationships.
Remote work isolated people and erased the boundaries between work and private life.
AI tools began making decisions for us: what we watch, who we interact with, what we buy.
Digital identities became more important than real ones.

And worst of all, we got used to it.

Technology is not evil, but it is misused

Technology itself is not the problem. The problem is how we use it and who controls it.

AI can help in medicine, yet it is used for deepfake pornography.
Blockchain can enable transparency, yet it is used to inflate NFT bubbles.
The internet can connect people, yet it often pushes them into echo chambers and tribalism.

High tech – low life is not the outcome of technology, but the result of a value system. When profit, control, and entertainment become the highest values, technology only amplifies them.

An alternative reality is possible

Let’s imagine a world where technology does not alienate, but empowers. Where high technology does not mean deep isolation, but deeper connection. Where you use AI to enhance your knowledge, not to replace your identity.

What does a high tech – high life civilization look like?

Digital sovereignty: We have control over our own data.
AI as assistance, not replacement: We use artificial intelligence for personal growth, not to delegate fundamental decisions.
Education instead of passive consumption: People use the internet to learn, not to scroll endlessly.
Art and creativity returned to humans: AI helps with creation, but identity remains human.

How to break away from the dystopian course

Change doesn’t happen on its own. You have to choose it.

Here are a few concrete steps:

a) Digital detox

Turn off notifications.
Set designated “offline time.”
Stop measuring your self-worth through likes and algorithmic success.

b) Technological minimalism

Don’t use 30 apps if you only need 5.
Remove unnecessary AI assistants and automations that don’t bring real value.

c) Personal education

Learn how algorithms work, knowledge is liberating.
Get familiar with the basics of cybersecurity and digital literacy.

d) Ethics over efficiency

If you build software, think about the consequences.
If you use AI, ask yourself: “Does this help me become a better person?”

e) Communities instead of networks

Fewer followers, more relationships.
Fewer posts, more conversations.
Find (or create) a space for people who think alike.

Conclusion

Technology is a tool. It is neither evil nor good. It is neutral.

We choose how we use it.

If we continue chasing “innovation” without spiritual and social depth, “low life” awaits us. But if we build a value system in which humans matter more than algorithms, and the soul matters more than the profile, we can have both high technology and a high quality of life.

So let the next iteration of humanity be neither transhumanism nor corporate AI surveillance, but a conscious, empathetic, and ethically guided digital civilization.

📌 Epilogue for .decode readers
What do you think? Which direction is our civilization heading in?
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