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Modern Technology And Its Impact On Modern Society Essay

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Modern technology has undoubtedly had a profound impact on contemporary society. However, critics of modern technology emphasize that modern technology has had deleterious effects on young Americans. In The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future: Or, Don 't Trust Anyone under 30, Mark Bauerlein attempts to argue that the young Americans of contemporary society are increasingly unintelligent as a result of modern technology, but fails to elaborate on his criteria for evaluating intelligence. Bauerlein engages in fallacious rhetoric while presenting his argument that today’s young Americans are part of the “dumbest generation” because he fails to acknowledge the beneficial impacts that modern technology has had on Americans. His overall argument is diminished by his usage of logical fallacies, while arguments that do not rely on logical fallacies and rather focus on deliberate rhetorical appeals are more cogent. Bauerlein’s failure to contribute relevant evidence and his excessive use of logical fallacies ultimately hinders his argument that modern technology has led to the decline in youth intelligence, which is what makes counter-arguments presented by other authors, such as Clay Shirky and Donald Norman’s, much more convincing. In his book The Dumbest Generation, Emory Professor Mark Bauerlein emphasizes his belief that most young Americans avoid learning due to their pre-occupation with modern technology. He

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