Friday, July 14, 2017
Technology: Friend or Foe?
For a good amount of time, the vast use of modern technology has become a criticism and a concern of people everywhere. We fear a time where technology can easily consume the lives of everyday people. This fear and resistance to the expanding use of technology is one of the main points addressed in Neil Postman's Amusing ourselves to Death, which I began reading first.As the debate on technology has continued to become of growing importance, I have developed my own thoughts on the topic as well. Technology is useful and definitely helpful. It can be used to make tests easier, it can aid in the communication of people and businesses from near and far, and it supplies an abundance of funny videos. However, this technology can become harmful as it is the origin of cyber-bullying, Internet addiction, and social isolation. In his book, Neil Postman demonstrates many of these harmful effects by comparing personal values of present day to the past. Today, we seem to value our technology more than we value reading or writing. However, I also believe that much of the resistance to today's technology stems from our comparison to life in the past. Postman raises the point that in the 17th and 18th centuries, typography was one of the only ways to become involved in the communication of a culture. The people of that time needed things such as newspapers, books, and pamphlets to understand the foundation of their culture. Nowadays, since much of American culture is based off of television and show business, we can be involved in our culture by simply turning on a TV or attending to social media. No matter how we choose to view technology, we cannot hide the fact that, regardless of its drawbacks, it has helped us and will continue to help us make life easier. That being said, regardless of technology's positive aspects, we also cannot hide the fact that technology can be harmful. What do you think? Is our technology a prized possession or a hindrance to the type-centered America that once was?
Nene Usim
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Modern day technology is a prize possession rather than a hindrance to society because it helps connect many parts of the world in a more effective manner. Without technologies such as television, cell phones, the Internet, and computers, it would be a much harder and slower process to spread news. If the world today relied solely on print and postal services, there is a great possibility that too much time would pass between when the information was sent and when it was received, which means that the information could become irrelevant, for it would be too late to act upon the issue that was quickly advancing. Modern types of communication allow for the formation of networks and relationships between the populations of different countries which then leads to the creation of a worldwide web. These new technologies provide easy access to information and allow people to quickly become informed of issues and act upon them immediately. New technology also helps students because it makes research and information sources accessible to all students whereas before, students had to check out library books and read the whole book in order to find the facts they needed. To add the that inconvenience, if other students were already using those books, there would be a possibility that the library had already checked out of the books that student might need which would make it difficult for the student to complete their assignments successfully. There may be some downsides to the effects of modern technologies, but for the most part, I see modern technologies as turning points in history that continue to make life easier and improve communications around the world.
ReplyDeleteThe cons of technology are usually the person's fault, you can literally be addiction to anything first and foremost. So saying that people develop addiction to the internet shouldn't be a surprise. If you're already an introvert, recluse, or an agoraphobe the internet may actually benefit you because it allows you to communicate with people without social anxieties. Not to mention if you are that much of a shut in I doubt you'd want to even talk to people outside your home. Cyber bullying is practically a joke, I've never heard one person ever get cyber bullied (not that it hasn't happened because I haven't heard it; it has). To avoid cyber bullying just don't check out the guys posts and block them so they can't message you. The only true cons I can think of is having a shorter attention span and how people become more apathetic to each other because your brain has a hard time seeing them as a real person. It goes both ways for every person (some a little less then others) but it still shouldn't effect you because it's just a random person on the internet who you don't know. If it's a friend confront them about it in real life. Technology is progression. We literally make technology to make technology for a future. People hate change and new things so it's only natural for them to hate phones and the internet. People used to hate books and newspapers when they ere prominent. Here's a mildly entertaining video on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNIHBEBsoKg
ReplyDeleteTechnology just makes you more aware of everything, it gives you insights you could've never found without it. We NEED the world to keep changing and advancing in technology. The human race is extremely good at one thing and that moving in one direction; dead ahead.
It is very true that technology has contributed to the many benefits we rely on today, but that it also has caused harm to our society today. Humanity has solely relied on technology ever since it was created, and yet we still progress as a whole as technology surpasses us. One downfall of technology that has impacted us greatly is how dependent we have become to use it on a daily basis. Technology itself has created a social divide among the country, and an substantial growth of laziness. With that being said, looking at either aspect of technology, I believe that it can be a prized possession or a hindrance to our American lifestyle. Relating to Mason's regards, the cons of technology can be traced to the person's fault. On my behalf, I believe that technology is a prized possession because of how progressive we have been. Without the massive spur of technology within the past thirty years, humanity as a whole would not have been able to strive as we are now. Presently, I don't think that we can stop researching, and developing further implications of the tech world. We are snowballing too fast to the point where we discover new things everyday.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is without a doubt an extremely controversial topic whether it comes to it's importance or it's ability to bring benefit to our society. Technology, or at least, in the way we manipulate it can be seen as a powerful tool, but regardless, it is also a dangerous one. Computers, the internet, social media, and etc. have all done incredible things for our communicational-driven society. It's helped loved ones on opposite sides of the world connect with each other, and it's given our massive population easily accessible entertainment like Jenna Marbles, a YouTube comedian, and the adorable, ever-so-popular video of the sneezing panda. It can be easily seen though, that technology also has negative effects. People can become addicted to this technology. Everywhere we go, people are always on their phones whatever the time of day or whatever the day may be. This technology is inescapable. Friends and families are constantly on their phones while they're on outings or at dinners when really, they should be talking and interacting with one another. I notice it more and more every single day. Little kids who I believe should be enjoying the simple things like going to the park and playing with flowers are instead playing with gadgets and gizmos. It almost doesn't seem organic in some way. This technology has also given people a wide-open window to cause trouble and bring hurtful things upon others with the popularity and presence of social media. However, looking at it from another perspective, maybe this is just a change in how our society works, and our generation is just in the middle of the growth spurt of it all. Yes, our values are changing but that is completely natural as history goes on. The values of the people in the 1900s were different from those in the 1800s, and the values of the people from the 1800s were different from the values of those in the Ice Age. Maybe this is our population's way of changing, may it be for better or for worse.
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