Blue Gold Essay

Thousands of years have passed that we have lived with technology, and it has worked in our benefit in many circumstances. However, it has become an addiction,

Nowadays, there are many people who are addictive to technology very much, especially some social networks, like Facebook. An article from World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology shows that, “Facebook has become an essential part of many people’s lives. Surveys have shown that 71.2% of Internet users in the U.S. are also Facebook users, and that almost adolescents check Facebook first thing in the morning. Facebook ranked first in a survey of the 100 most popular websites in Taiwan. Nearly 90% of the Facebook population is made up of students, particularly university students”. At the same time, we have to notice that technology brings us a lot of fun. For example, communication has been made easier and the Internet has brought email and chatting facilities. Instead of sending letters to respective destinations, it is very easy to send an e-mail, which will be received instantly. New technology makes people to contact each other easily. If you are very busy and have no time to see your parents, you can call them or text them anytime, even during the 10 minutes break of the meeting. If you go to other country to study or work, and get far from your friends, you can have Internet video with them, in this way you can see them easily. All of those I said are the benefits and convenience that new technology bring us. In this way, technology makes people get closer, but not be alone. Without new technology, people have to see each other face to face or

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how we do it” (Qualman, n.d). According to Merrain Webster 1828, “social media is form of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messaging, and other online (such as video). Technology has involved into something that everyone can utilize effectively just by the swipe of finger or by pressing a single button. We don’t have to go the post office for hand written letter from families and friends abroad, but we can get them through simply opening a chat box online. However, social media has become the addiction to many young people today and even adults alike. We eat with your phones. We study and communicate with others on your various devices. We even go into the bathroom with our devices to ensure that we don’t miss a tweet, recent Instagram post or a WhatsApp message.

From waking up to an alarm clock in the morning, to texting our friends during the day, to using an electric toothbrush at night, we have all relied on the use of technology. Today, technology has become an essential part of most people’s everyday lives. With the rapid growth of technology, we are continually discovering new ways to make our lives faster and simpler. However, there have been many debates regarding how these new methods have concerning side affects. A lot of concern is shown on our societies dependency upon these new innovations; our inability to cope with life without these useful but not necessary tools.

People in today’s society have a psychological need for electronics therefore we release more every time we have a chance, what researchers are trying to figure out is, are the effects of using electronics helping or hurting our society. Mangan informs the reader that “while having the latest and greatest electronic devices can be fun, necessary, or both, our addiction to them comes at a high cost to ourselves and our planet.” Ramey agrees with Mangan saying that “Technology and a human life cannot be separated; society has a cyclical codependence on technology. We use technology; depend on technology in our daily life and our needs and demands for technology keep on rising.” However, he also gives examples of how they are useful. Ramey goes on saying “It’s poor application has resulted into the

Even though the intentions of technology have shown to help people in innovative ways, one tends to use technology in the harmful ways. However, this is true of just about anything that can give one pleasure, such as consuming too much food or abusing prescribed drugs. There is not one thing out in the world that will be beneficial to all when used for the wrong reasons. For example, Turkle presents the story of Tara and Alice where Tara was using only technology to communicate with Alice and discovered that when Tara and Alice met in person, Alice had been going through a rough time due to her loss. Here is a perfect example go how technology was being misused. Instead of using technology for searching something, she abused it by using it for her primary source of communication. On the other hand, technology has never been blamed for actually harming someone. As one can see, people are most likely to use technology in the wrong ways,therefore one can conclude that the hurts outweigh the benefits of

These factors indicate that problem of technology pervades our society and culture, whether consciously or subconsciously. And yet, in order to consider the problems posed by technology, it is necessary to discover the nature of the problem. While examining arguments against modern technology, I have encountered two main strands of thought concerning its dangers.

On average, we touch our phones over 2,000 times a day – yes, over 2,000 times! That may come as a surprise to some of you, as it did to me, but it is no surprise to say that we have a societal reliance on technology. Essentially, technology is the epicenter of our society today - hence our times being referred to as the “digital age” – but how could it not be, when almost every aspect of our everyday lives involves technology? Children spend their time playing on their iPads, rather than playing outdoors. Students type every note in their laptops, rather than in their notebooks. There are many stances we could take on technology, but we can all agree on one thing: technology makes everything much more convenient. We more or less have a world of opportunities at our fingertips. Technology of today allows us to do things that were once unimaginable and our ever-evolving world of technology is a great place to live in, but what happens when the greatest innovations of today are potentially manipulated and turned against us?

You would think that in an age of perpetual technological exposure, we as a population would be able to control ourselves around it. Common sense seems to dictate that it is unhealthy to constantly be on our smartphones, however, we seem to do it anyway. It has become common today to favor our digital presence over our physical existence, often being trapped in the world of social media. Addicted to an online way of life looking for affirmation, social connectedness and perceived self worth in many young adults have depreciated. Several studies today examine similar concepts such as technology as an addiction with side effects, ideas of perceived social isolation and social connectedness, and lowered feelings of belonging and sense of purpose resulting from social media use. Research thus far has provided ample information on why society suffers from digital addiction and those adverse effects, however, it seems to be that information disclosing effective ways to conquer this addiction is limited.

Technology, an indispensable necessity to most people’s life just as air, food and water did. The amount of its advantages, which change our life into a better one, is enough to prove its own value. Technology penetration has been grown fast than a few decades back. It has become one of the commodities in our lives, however it can as well be an invasion on personal space (John Thackara, 2006: 3).

In 2002, during an interview with Wired Magazine Steven Spielberg said, “Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we're too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone” (Kennedy, para. 7). In the twentieth-first century, we all have a certain kind of technology that makes our life easier in many ways from the most basic to the most complex, such as lighting, cell phones, internet, cars, etc. When we think about technology, it suddenly reminds us of entertainment, but it provides more than entertainment, it provides us with everything. It is unthinkable that nowadays we can live without technology and yet, it influences us both positively and negatively.

Technology has recently become a very controversial part of our lives. Some will say technology has been attributed to man’s survival as a species. Through such developments as advances in medicine have greatly increased life expectancy and quality of life. While others will argue that wile technology has improved our quality of life it also has the power to destroy us. Technology has improved our lives but it has also caused new problems such as added stress, reliance, and a lack of interest in the world around us.

People’s view of how technology influence our lives are disputed for many reasons. Rapid development of technology has drastically changed the society we live in today. Computers and machines play an important role in almost all fields of human life. Technology is like the essence in our life as it presents itself everywhere at the same time. How we react and how we interact with technology determines whether technology prospers our life or creates obstacles. Nonetheless, despite that the purpose of technology is to make our life accessible, needless usage of technology is inconvenient. People of all ages became obsessed to all kinds of technological gadgets such as TV, cellphone and the

Our world has become an electronic playground. With the invention of new technology we have simplified and aided processes in countless fields. While electronic technology may be beneficial; it has some detrimental effects. Technology has had a massive, negative impact on our society: our children are learning differently, our social skills and ability to communicate are becoming compromised, and the invention of social media is becoming a leading cause to numerous mental health issues. Technology is taking over, like the apocalypse no one saw coming.

Until recently, I had always accepted technology as a wonderful friend, but after doing some in depth reading and research on the topic I found that technology also has its draw -backs. Through research I found that technology has been nothing more than a journey of trial and error. In my research I discovered what I choose to call the dark side of technology. Everyday household conveniences, transportation, and modern medicine are all products of technology that are an integral part of our society. More often than not these products and services are viewed as assets or friends of our society .and the draw-backs are often overlooked And why not ? We are a Convenience oriented society,