Jane E. Brody's Essay 'Hooked On Our Smartphones'

People in the world today depend on technology to help them succeed through life. However, the rate of its use among young kids and teen customers is increasing at a rapid pace. The reason being is that they would rather text a class friend and use social media rather than meeting up with them. In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the scenario is similar to the world today, because nobody communicates or connects with people personally, leaving them isolated and alone. Also, in the article called “Tasking Multitasking To Task”, by Mark Harris, he explains that technology is affecting the human mind to lack interest in social skills and hobbies. Harris’ claim that technology is corrupting our lives is correct because many people have lost their attention span for anything beyond a simple phrase.

Every day, everywhere people are using technology to check email, calculate tax, and talk with each other. Technology has greatly affected the social structure today and in Fahrenheit 451. Technology has effected how the TV controls our lives, how we communicate with one another, and how strong the social structure is In both the real world and Fahrenheit 451.

Technology, the advancement of knowledge and productivity through the application of tools, information, and techniques to create an effortless process, has ultimately lead to the declination of our society and our future. In “A Thing Like Me,” Nicholas Carr addresses the development of technology from the day it was created and how it initiated an immediate impact within the lives of humans leading to an unhealthy dependency. Carr establishes how technology, what was intended to be a tool, has become the “pacifier” of our generation. This “pacifier” causes a loss of freedom, not through the laws of the government, but rather with the values of freedom one holds within themselves. This freedom is the individuality that distinguishes each person from the next, and forms a desire for the development of oneself through the experiences of life and the wisdom that is acquired along the way. Technology has blinded man from this pursuit of self-enhancement and with the advancement of technology occurring daily, there is no resolution. Each day people are confined within themselves and the pieces of technology that will continually limit them in their lives. Freedom is more than just a concept of laws instilled by the government, it is the thought process found within each individual person and their “hunger” to become more. With technology, social media was created and immediately immersed within our lives. The society of today has

Have you ever thought that the world is starting to be too wrapped up in technology? In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury presents a dystopia in which people of the future are so wrapped up in the mind numbing effects of technology that they refuse to think. The parlor walls in Fahrenheit 451 are used as a brainwashing mechanism, the mechanical hounds show that people refuse to think and the technology encourages an accelerated pace of life which discourages reflection.

Ever since technology began so prominent in the modern world, can anyone remember going outside for more than 30 minutes and not see a cell phone or computer? Probably not, as these pieces of technology have become so ingrained in people’s lives, no one wants to leave their home without still being connected. And there is no reason to, as friends, family, and strangers share the same sentiments. Unplugging from technology is not only a decision people don’t make for personal reasons, it simply isn’t conducive to a productive life, as many people’s work and social lives wouldn’t be the same, if exist at all, without being connected to other people or the internet with just a single touch.

“In the last 50 years, up to 100,000 Americans lost their lives due to inactivity leading to some sort of conditional disease such as heart disease [including the laziness within people of society]” (Wise 12). So many people have died from becoming lazy, doing nothing but go on their phones, devices, rather than doing everyday things. Technology has changed the way society approaches life, always depending on it rather than themselves and others. The society today consists of nothing but TV screens, telephone, smartphones, iPads, and items the 19th century would consider a dream to lay hands on. A book written by Bradbury presents lack of effort people put into their lives and society; Bradbury predicts how the future will become later on in the society. Becoming more similar to the laziness and ignorance in the novel, Fahrenheit 451, the society today struggles the society today struggles with dependency on technology which results to lack of social interactions with one another and failure in becoming literate with books.

The average person in our society spends 7-8 hours a day(The Washington Post) using technology; that is stuff like television, video games, surfing the web, etc. Let that set in; that’s a long time. Our society procrastinates also is constantly distracted by technology like no other. We are practically glued to technology; before we become slaves of technology we must change that. The theme of technology in Fahrenheit 451 informs us that the overuse of technology makes people lazy/procrastinate, that technology will overpower people’s lives, and technology takes away from people’s education.

Technology is used in everyday life in today’s society. Because of this technology, however, people are becoming too reliant on it. In Fahrenheit 451, technology is everywhere. Many people in that society start to use it all the time. Technology in the society is negatively impacting the people. For example, people are dependent on the technology, overuse the technology, and technology is being used to manipulate them.

Everyone today has their nose into their phones and are virtually disconnected from society. We would rather text, snap, and tweet, rather than talk face to face, and when we do, we're not far from our iPhones. An addiction is an unhealthy dependence on something external to help one feel better. In the novel “Fahrenheit 451”, by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag, the main character, experiences alienation from other characters due to addiction to technology.

“As cities grow and technology takes over the world, belief and imagination fade away, and so do we”(Julie Kagawa). While technology spreads and completely takes over one’s life, the electronic wave cannot be tamed. Once society fails to take control of their lives over technology, they lose contact with our loved ones and reality, as well as the ability to think for one’s self. In the dystopian world from Fahrenheit 451 technology is found everywhere, and the people highly depend on it to do hard work for them or for entertainment purposes. Bradbury illustrates a society that has lost the ability to enjoy life without technology through a variety of characters that rely on unnatural and modern objects to fill the void of an emotionless society.

There are current events occurring in the United States that has given us the feeling as if we are living in a dystopian novel. People are living in fear and many have their lives controlled by what is going on. From having new technology control our lives, from having robots taking over jobs, and hiding our true identify, the United States has become a place in where many do not desire to live in anymore.

There are three main reasons why technology is damaging our society; it’s affecting our way of communicating with each other, reducing our self-reliance, and, last but not least, it’s dominating our society. The first reason, that it’s affecting our way of communicating with each other, is very prevalent in Fahrenheit 451 and our current society. In our current society, we use a many types of technology to communicate with each other. This ranges from iPads to iPhones to household telephones, etc.. This allows us to talk to each other without having to be close to each other, which presents the problem of diminishing the need for engagement with others. In Fahrenheit 451, a character by the name of Faber, invents a small radio that is to be inserted into the ear of Montag, which allows them to communicate with each other whenever they need to without having to have a face-to-face conversation. This also diminishes the need for engagement with others. Another situation is also faced in this book when firemen burn houses instead of preventing houses from burning. This occurs when the firemen find books of any kind in someone’s house because of the book ban in this novel. Not letting people read also diminishes the need for engagement with books, which links on to the bigger dilemma of

Today, many countries prefer to consider themselves as socially, and technologically advanced independent states, that possess the governmental power to maintain order within their own societies. Nevertheless, a small percentage of nations are in favor of perusing the “utopian” dream, being a perfect and equal, well rounded society that exceeds all others. Those who decide to peruse the, “perfect society,” ironically create unforeseeable problems that will in fact arise. Citizens of a dystopian society usually live under heavy governmental control, do not possess many freedoms, and the truth is oftentimes hidden from them by the strong communist governments. The utopian concept, is merely propaganda meant to maintain order throughout the governed society.

Technological advances have certainly entered this era to facilitate people’s lives. There is no doubt that some new technology has been created to help operate or effectively manage time in a way that would be beneficial to humans. Technology significantly helps a number of people. A group that greatly benefits with the advances of technology is teenagers. Teens constantly use computers for schoolwork, networking, or knowing anything they want to know with a simple use of their fingertips. Furthermore, with the advances it is no longer needed to leave the household to run an errand such as going out to pay a bill or do some shopping. As technology advances and enters the life of mostly all humans many begin to question how healthy these technological advances truly are. A couple of decades ago kids spent their time outside playing with their friends by the same token with items that did not require the use of electricity. Kids and adolescents would dedicate at least a part of their day to reading books and gaining knowledge from there instead of social media. Distinctively today’s adolescents instead of reading books will go on the internet for a summary and inform themselves in less than 5 minutes, spent their time inside playing video games or on their cellphones allowing technology to be the only thing they know and rely on to have fun or be informed. Moreover, this guides us to the points Ray Bradbury makes in his novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury touches on several

As asked by the English alternative rock band Muse in their famous song “Screenager,” “Who’s so phoney and always surrounded?” This song perfectly depicts the effects of technology on America. People are engulfed by different types of technology everywhere they go and even carry around technology such as phones, laptops, and iPods. These items may seem like a blessing, but they are potentially dividing America. Every day, eight to eighteen-year-olds watch four and a half hours of TV, listen to two and a half hours of music, use the computer for an hour and a half, and spend two and a half hours on their cell phones, two hours for texting and one half hour for talking. This adds up to eleven hours dedicated on the media per day (Crawford).