Ah, technology! It does so much for us at the push of a button or a flip of a switch.

In fact, we do not have to leave the comfort of our homes and still get everything we want.

Why go to a crowded store to find something they might not have? Amazon sells practically everything, and we can get it on our doorsteps tomorrow.

We don’t have to go out to eat; just order our food online and have it delivered. Even our groceries can come to our front door, so why bother to go to a food store?

We can buy everything online — from clothes to cars and even houses. Speaking of houses, we can protect ourselves from vandals and break-ins with high-tech security systems and doorbells with cameras that show anyone that might walk by.

Speaking of walking, we can hire someone to come to our house to walk our dogs while we lay on our couches eating Cheetos and watching TV.

Of course, all this technology can be quite a drain on our bank accounts, but it’s not only money the price we pay for the convenience of lazy living.

Upon a tip from a friend, I watched a video podcast titled, “How Big Tech Engineered the Loneliness Epidemic.” The video opened my eyes to the risks we take for the bells and whistles that make our daily duties so much easier.

The podcaster claimed that the technology business has created a dystopian society in our country; our lives have become dehumanized, fearful and heavily restricted. In America, 93% of our population orders online for almost everything. This means we have little to no person-to-person contact, except for family and perhaps a few friends, but cellphone texts have reduced that number, too.

A life that heavily relies on technology is causing an epidemic of loneliness from such little interaction we have with members of our neighborhoods and communities. A recent survey discovered that 74% of Americans do not speak regularly to their next-door neighbors and do not know the names of residents who live on their streets.

I had mentioned in a previous column that the American neighborhood has become extinct like the dinosaur. Backyard neighborhood picnics are virtually no more.

Asking to borrow a cup of sugar from the lady who lives across the lawn or asking to borrow a power tool from the man two houses down were common in the early to middle 20th century. We could count on a good neighbor in an emergency to watch our kids or our pets.

Nowadays, the only interaction we have with the people who live to the right or left of us is a hand wave before we get in the car to drive to work, but that too is not very common.

Thirty-four million Americans work from inside their homes. Add the fact that 4 million kids have little interaction with public school children because they are homeschooled, making families shut-ins in their own shelters.

The disconnect due to technology is having serious consequences on our relationships.

Children overloaded by cellphone screens have difficulty keeping eye contact and sustaining conversations with anyone they don’t personally know.

Marriages suffer from communication breakdowns that can lead to divorce. Healthy relationships take work and no computer screen or in house digital devices can help.

Job interviews often fail because of a lack of experience in speaking with adults in authority positions.

As we drown ourselves in the deep waters of digital devices and lock down our homes, loneliness, like a slowly progressing cancer, is tearing the life out of us.

Six of every 10 Americans report that they frequently feel lonely because they have lost touch with humanity. Everyone wants a village, but nobody wants to be villager.

With loneliness being one consequence of living in the techno world, there is another risk that we may not have considered. Each time we order something to be delivered, every time we give out our names, our credit card and Social Security numbers, we’re at the mercy of scammers who prey upon the information of our personal profiles.

According to the Pew Research Center, 74% of Americans have been victimized by online scams, cyberattacks or credit card fraud — and those numbers include me.

Somebody in Indiana where I have never been somehow got my credit card numbers years ago and bought a computer, a grill and a backyard patio set at three different stores, costing thousands of dollars.

Once the fraud was recognized, the stores demanded I pay the money. I had to get an attorney to stop the threats. When I reported the fraud, I was told whoever stole my numbers would never be found.

Identity theft is also a big problem. Over 3 million Americans have had their bank accounts hacked and money stolen from their checking and savings.

So, we hunker down in our homes as Amazon drops off another package. We use DoorDash to deliver our dinners. We use our credit cards to rent a movie on our TVs, and every hour or so, we check our doorbell camera to see if there is any suspicious activity outside our properties.

We go nowhere, and even if we do, we talk to no one unless necessary.

With the advancements of artificial intelligence, the day is already here when we can have computer generated AI friendships. Not for me, thank you very much.

I’ll hold onto memories of my childhood, when summer weekends were picnics with the Weikerts who lived next door, playing horseshoes with the Schaefers around the block and swimming in the Carr’s pool across the street. And I have a physical photo album my kids will have as part of my legacy that can’t be deleted from my computer or my phone.

I live in the new techno world, but I’m still old school. I’ve got to get up from the chair now and go sharpen my pencil.

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com