Helen G. Mesthene

From over ten thousand years ago to what is now the Information Age, technology has grown significantly and affected not just one individual, but the whole world. The creations of technology have rapidly evolved to where humans depend on technology. They use it for their daily needs and this evidence shows these creations are a stepping-stone for future endeavours. The innovations that several people have created revolutionised the world in a major way from a light bulb and crossbows to an airplane and satellites. However, where they are positive results lie potential negative consequences and it becomes conspicuous every day. As humans become more dependent on technology over the years, society becomes interdependent. This indicates that

Modern technology has seen many debates about its usefulness, its relevance, and its impact on society. Two main parties have bound together, one arguing that the impact of modern technological advancements has had a positive effect on society, while the other side believes that it only makes things worse. In their argumentative pieces, Charles Seife and Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen address the issue of technology in the modern world, although their arguments vary drastically, through the use of various rhetorical devices.

The word technology does not simply mean tools, hardware and software’s, but instead it also signifies art, craft and skills which has been around for decades. We often associate technology with brand new gadgets but it can be argued that technology is as old as humanity because it is a part of what defines us humans. According to Arthur (2009: 215) we fear that technology

"The Four Negative Sides of Technology." The Four Negative Sides of Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

“Man is a slow, sloppy, and brilliant thinker; computers are fast, accurate, and stupid” –John Pfeiffer. The purpose of technology is to make human life easier, performing simple, medial tasks. Our society has reached a problem, however, that technology is taking over human purpose: computers are thinking, instead of humans making discoveries and ideas for themselves. While knowledge continues to progress, the nature of it becomes significantly more mechanical and technological. In Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan argues that people need to open themselves up to new innovations and technological changes in order for society to progress; however, too much advancement in technology can have the opposite effect, as

In the world there are many different and developing types of technology that can offer many benefits, but at the same time cause many problems. Technology comes in many shapes and sizes and does many different things. Whether it’s a house that can do everything for its inhabitants , or a device that can make the paralyzed walk again, society is moving forward in the world of technology although it may be controversial.

In today’s American society we as a nation are evolving technologically. By just a click of a button products, goods, services and information are readily available and easily accessible. However, the question a raised to how beneficial technology is and how this fast pace world affects us. Realistically, with each era the more feasible thing is to alter with the time. On the other hand, by altering ourselves to fit with the pace of society, now we need to factor in the pros and cons of this alteration.

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

Nicholas Carr argues in the video that all these ‘intellectual technological advancements’ as he calls them, has a major effect on us in the fact that it alters the way we think and perceive things. This is something

Dr. Lary Rosen the writer of this article is a psychiatrist and for 30+ he studied the “Psychology of technology” and says that he always has a strong positive towards the impact of technology in our culture and all of his writings would consist of how we can make the most of the marvellous inventions. He said that from the start of the internet to the rapid rise of the world wide web, smartphones, laptops and tablets we already have the world at our fingertips whenever and wherever we want.

Technology is a catch word of our times - an immensely important word, but a catch-word all the same. What- ever people may understand by the term, they have learnt that it is technology which is transforming society at an ever-accelerating pace. The only thing that is novel about the word 'technology' is the new emphasis we place on it. Technology has always been with us. It is not something outside society, some external force by which we are pushed around. It is one of the main roots of man's social, political and commercial life; and it will always be that. Even the cry about our technological backwardness relative to other countries merely echoes a message that was drummed out ceaselessly in the latter half of the nineteenth century. To-day, of course, we mostly use the term to signify the organized exploitation of scientific knowledge, particularly new scientific knowledge, to make people need or want, or are persuaded they want, as they strive for an ever better material life. We welcome without hesitation the transforming influence these things are exercising in our social lives, in the same way as our forebears of the eighteenth century accepted what one might call the fruits of the protoscientific technology of the industrial revolution.

We live in a day and age where technology is constantly developing. The role of technology in our lives is a question that has been asked for many years. For example, the invention of the telescope was considered to be the beginning of an alienated society. This invention “finally forced nature, or rather, the universe, to reveal its secrets” (Arendt 394). This new revelation resulted in techno optimism and pessimism. Techno optimism is the belief that technology can make the world better off, while techno pessimists believe that technology is the reason why there is a broken relationship between the balance of society and nature (“Techno-Optimism” 452). Philosophers Karl Marx and Nick Bostrom question the role of technology through a techno optimist viewpoint, while Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger are techno pessimists. In a world that is increasingly dependent on technology, I believe that although technology is efficient, there is a fine line as to when it starts to disrupt our humanity.

The influence new technologies have on our society is colossal; Sweeping over businesses, it changes their way to work and their strategies (Manyika, o.a., 2013). To understand why new technologies have such an impact on us, one must understand why new ways to see the world is something worth striving for.

With this new glass of Merlot by my side, I sit and wonder at the amazement of technology. Each velvety sip opens me up in my corner a little more just as technology has done so for the world. But now I must go off and ponder further on into an important philosophical question of whether this technology, endless as it has come to be, should be considered as a thing that has brought out the best or the worst in society. How complex a question! Surely I could easily look back fondly and count the many ways that technology and its manifold presence has been nothing but a blessing, not only to facilitating human kind, but also our intrinsic pursuit of society. But now, as easy as that might be, it would be a more healthy venture to play the

In this essay, I will debate the assumption that nature and technology are binary opposites, or two worlds apart from each other. I will refer to the interactive game which I have used within my presentation to illustrate how technology is not separate from nature- human nature in particular- but that it is simply a man made artifice, which is the materialisation of the plethora of ideas within the human mind. I will also refer to one of the three presribed readings from Arthur (2009) in order to better substantiate my views and opinions about this subject.