How Does Technology Affect The Brain

We rely on technology for everything in our lives today. It is hard for us to be more than ten steps away from our phone. Dependence on technology is even evident in Fahrenheit 451. In the novel, the TV is everything to some people. It becomes their friend their family and even their life. They even have technology that butters their toast and medical procedures. We use technology everyday whether it is our phone, laptop, or ipod. We use them every single day all day long. If something was not to work for a single day our society would crash with the absence of technology.

Pat Galagan, author of Technology and The Interrupted Brain seeks out a professional to explain this. Dan Willingham, professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia states, “Data from the last thirty years leads to a conclusion that is not scientifically challengeable: thinking well requires knowing facts, and that 's true not only because you need something to think about. The very processes that teachers care about most—critical thinking processes such as reasoning and problem solving—are intimately intertwined with factual knowledge that is stored in long-term memory (not just found in the environment)” (Galagan). This generation of adolescents is so used to looking up everything in the internet that their brains don’t go the extra mile to think and develop. Therefore, they don’t possess the amount of factual knowledge needed to mold higher level thinking and analysis.

These days, technology seems to be almost everywhere we go. With advancements to cell phones, computers, video games, cars, and our iPods, our lives have become much easier than ever before. Technology is made because the society always wants to find more efficient methods of doing certain tasks. Without technology, mankind would not have discovered things that the majority of us now know, such as the world, animals, science, and the like. However, the society doesn’t gain much benefit, besides their school and work duties. Technology has become a necessity for us as a whole, although it definitely changes our mental habits. Due to advancements in technology, the United States is becoming more dependent on it, which is causing the

Are we becoming lazy? Technology makes life less physically demanding. You are never without the safety net of technology; it provides you with directions, keeps you organized and allows you to communicate and connect with people internationally. Not only does the advancement of technology keep you in the loop, but it has thrown patience and focus to the wind. Technology can be beneficial to society, but it comes at human costs such as our dependence, isolation, and etiquette.

​People across the globe have realized the same thing I did, and many professionals and authors have performed studies and wrote books and articles to prove that technology is robbing us. A particular article that was very interesting and informative is “The

Over the years, technology has increased in usage within many ways and has caused successful changes in a person’s lively routine. However, technology has evolved since the very beginning which concern has grown over the negative effects of its excessive use. Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” addresses the tendency of technology to create a sort of mental laziness where people look for instant answers rather than thinking for themselves. Daphne Bavelier, C. Shawn Green, and Matthew W.G. Dye have written in “Children, Wired: For Better and for Worse” on the transient and persistent effects of technology on children, particularly in terms of media exposure of television, movies, and video games. Additionally, Matt Richtel, writer for The New York Times, states in “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price” that the tendency of the brain to respond to immediate stimuli has a negative impact on the average user, ranging from disinterest to daily tasks to the risky behavior of texting and driving. Ultimately, these three articles agree that regardless of potential conveniences of heavy technology use, the tradeoff is something to be strongly considered.

Today’s society has advanced so this past decade. So much to the point we use it at a daily basis. Technology does have it’s perks, but are we getting too dependent on it?

In today’s modern world, technology reigns. Millions of people all over the globe utilize technology for a multitude of purposes every day, whether it be at work, school, or even from the leisure of their home. If you were to ask most people in America if they could live without technology even for a day, the answer would most likely be no. Contrary to opinions that are popular with my fellow millennials, I think that society is too dependent on technology. I believe society relies on technology too much because we use the internet for simple tasks that we should be capable of doing ourselves, our dependence has resulted in laziness, and technology is rapidly replacing people in the workplace, thus resulting in less jobs.

It is no secret that, in today’s society, everyone and everything is controlled electronically. It is also no secret that kids and young adults are almost addicted to iPhones, iPads, computer games, and television shows at a much younger age. Over the past 10 years, electronics have been more available and more popular for the younger generation. Kids start using these electronics, such as an iPad, at the age of only 3 years old. Technology intrudes every single aspect of our lives day in and day out. We are constantly surrounded by it; phones, computers, the internet, television, have all been factors contributing to make our lives a bit more convenient. Is that really the case though? When it comes to children and young adults, can technology actually be harmful in ways that are not obvious to a parent or an adult? People constantly ask, if it is even a possibility to be addicted to technology and social media? The answer is yes. In today’s world, there are dozens and dozens of people that are addicted and obsessed with technology, the internet and/or social media. The dependency of an addiction is usually explained as using something too much, or more often than you intend to, craving a certain thing, spending a larger amount of time using it, and letting it overcome your social life with your family and friends. Children and young adults are constantly browsing the web, playing video games, text messaging with friends-you name it, when it comes to

A lot of people believe that we are not too dependent on technology. I spoke to my brother; he stated we just utilize it like we would automobiles or anything else like that. There is no denying the benefits of technology, however, I believe we should not get ahead of ourselves.

Last but not least, technology makes us lazy. Children do not want to read books anymore when they can just run to a computer and get the summary of the book. People are becoming obese because they are not getting out of their homes anymore to exercise because they are glued to Farmville on Facebook. We rather do something easy than actually take the time to do it the long way around. Technology has made the people of the world couch potatoes. We can do everything at a push of a button, and we don’t have to put forth much effort to do the things that we once use to do manually.

This can be blamed on technology, but again, in fact it is our own fault because we chose to use the technology and spend the extra time lazing around.Now, something that really bothers me about technology is what is made out of it. I often question why people spend so much time and money trying to come up with so many useless things when we have global warming problems and starving children working in shoe factories. For example, scientists spent years to make a clone of a sheep. Now let me ask you, is their any practical use in knowing how to clone a sheep?

Technology is continuously developing and has begun creating shortcuts for the American society. As a society we need to find a balance between our technological use and our everyday life. In my opinion, society has become too dependent on technology. The more advanced technology becomes, the more it seems to be gaining control over our lives. Even though technology is offering society many beneficial qualities; it also is causing many negative effects to occur. Technology is affecting society socially, mentally, and physically.

Technology has changed so many of the ways in which we live our lives, from the invention of the wheel to the advanced systems we use and take for granted everyday. Technology was once taboo in most house holds while people still clung to the idea that life was built on life experiences. Nicholas Carr stated in, Is Goggle making us stupid? "Back in the fourth century, BCE, Plato complained that writing (then a fairly new technology) was destroying peoples memory, yet he wrote dozens of books. For half a century, television has been accused of rotting our brains and making us fat and lazy, but most people depend on it for info, news and entertainment." Technology has changed our understanding of the way things work and

Another source of the overdependence of technology in children is school. At school, they are introduced to technology at a very young age, sometimes even in preschool. Children are introduced to calculators at a very young age, helping them with math problems they should be able to do in their heads. The teachers are encouraging it so the students don’t take the time to learn how to do it out and then struggle when they have no calculator. Also, children today are proven to have much worse handwriting than in the past. They are now expected to type English essays and in elementary school; many aren’t taught cursive but rather how to use computers. For example, in 2009, 97 percent of teachers had at least one computer in their room, and out of that, 93 percent of the computers were connected to the Internet (Gray, Thomas, Lewis). Intelligence is continuously decreasing due to all of the shortcuts children now are able to take advantage of. In some aspects, the advancements are really aiding students. They have almost any information they can imagine wherever they go, just by going to Google. Typing is neat and