Negative Effects Of Technology

“THE MOST DISTURBING Stories about the future may be less about what could happen, …and more about what should happen given the way things are right now. The haunting visions of a sad tomorrow in Alexander Weinstein's excellent first collection, Children of the New World, fit that category. Inspired by the author's anxiety over our increasingly virtual lives, these 13 stories artfully slam an unchecked obsession with technology and affirm the beauty of reality's texture,” wrote John Wilwol in a book review published in the New York Times.

The effects of technology usage have long been a topic of debate, with the negative consequences often being brought up. Authors such as Robert Samuels, Alison Gopnik, Nicholas Carr, Gary Small and Vorgan Gigi have all addressed this topic in their own articles. In Samuels’ “Breaking Down Borders: How Technology Transforms the Private and Public Realms,” he discusses the creation of private bubbles in public spaces due to technology, and the consequent alienation of others. “Diagnosing the Digital Revolution” by Gopnik argues that the habits that tech users have today have always existed, while Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” states that technology is actively changing the way humans think. “Meet Your iBrain” by Gigi and Small covers how technology affects brains and alters them. This paper will use the articles and an interview with a peer to analyze the perceived negative effects of using technology, particularly worse memory, shorter attention span, exacerbation of bad habits, and shifting emotions.

Technology has taken over the lives of humans by rendering the way people think, say and do things. From role models and identities to communication and safety, nothing is what it used to be two decades ago and humans have technology to thank for that. The articles in unit three of Writing on the River, display and explain the negative impacts technology has on society. If technology had limitations, perhaps humans would reconvert back to reality after their long-spent time in the world of technology. Some people claim technology has only benefited the world, but these articles have the evidence to prove the cons outweigh the pros.

Though I concede that technology makes our lives easier and convenient, I still maintain that it also affects people negatively if they use it inappropriately. Technology addiction is one of the examples of these negative influences. In the article “Technology Addition in Adolescents,” Agarwal and Kar provide a vocabulary “technology addiction,” which is defined as “an habitual and compulsive way of indulgence with technology deviating from meeting the life’s different issues” (Agarwal and Kar). That is to say, people, who are addicted to technology, cannot live without it. It is similar to alcohol addiction that

Have you ever considered how harmful technology is? Some of us believe that using technology is necessary while others think using technology is time consuming. However, studies show that 59% of boys and girls are addicted to technology. In 1951, the science fiction short story “The Pedestrian” written by Ray Bradbury, and the 2017 episode of 20/20, “Digital Addiction” both show the danger of too much computer, cell phone and video game usage can be. Therefore, some say that technology may be addictive. Furthermore, many believe that too much technology can cause cognitive changes, produce physical and psychological problems, and introduce dangerous situations.

Although technology can bring people together and has educational tools it can tear us away from what's real in life. Technology has become such a big part of our lives that people can now just look at a watch and check their emails or watch a video. People are being consumed by their own technology devices technological to the point that instead of spending actually face to face time with their family they are in their room and in their bed just watching youtube. There are many problems with the way technology negatively affects people. To name a few, people are constantly distracted, there are many individuals that are in social isolation because they are always on their device. Also, an individual can suffer from technology addiction which leads to having a warped sense of reality.

From the telegram to the cell phone, technology has been vital in keeping communication alive and efficient in the world. It no longer takes days for an important message to reach someone because it was sent by pigeon or in the mail. Apps like Skype even allow for people to see each other face to face who otherwise may not have a chance to. Yet even with these advantages, it is still argued that technology has decreased social tendencies of teenagers. This isn’t necessarily true though and some may instead say that social interactions have just taken a new form. Teenagers today are just as social today as they were years ago and maybe a little more due to technology because of convenience, the efficiency of sending messages, and natural protection making it easier to spread views on a topic.

Whether you are a geek buying the latest smartphone, game console, and latest apple products or you are just the minimalist who only has the necessary smart devices like your phone and maybe a laptop it is undeniable that technology is making it’s way into every nook and cranny of modern society. Owning your own car was treated as a freedom back in the eighties but now owning a car is starting to become a thing of the past as companies such as UBER and Lyft are replacing taxies but making a new form of public transportation constantly available almost everywhere around the world. Even though technology has basically taken over every aspect of our lives does not mean that every person has embraced it with open arms. These days we still have an ongoing debate about whether smart devices and the internet are helping or hurting society as a whole or not. Enthusiasts on this topic tend to look at a more optimistic view on this new technological age expressing how they think that robots and artificial intelligence will change our world for the better both Kevin Kelly’s “Better than Human”, Clive Thompson’s “Smarter than You Think”, as well as Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld’s “The Influencing Machines” explore. On the other hand, skeptics tend to write about how these new technologies are tainting our own capabilities and making us more dependent rather than relying on our own skills says Nicholas Carr in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”. Although technology has

Nowadays it is almost impossible for many people to do their works and spend their days without using any kind of technology. According to Savanah Guthrie, an American journalist “ a recent survey found that people check their phones up to hundred fifty times a day. We talk, text, listen to music, surf the web, take pictures, oh, and then we share it all on social media.” Many people think of technology in a negative way. They think technology makes people create their own world and it make them alone. Even though technology has some negative effects on society, it has also a positive impact on the way people communicate. Technology makes it possible for people to enrich their relationships and for disabled people to overcome their disabilities.

With human’s creating high technology we have forever transformed the way we live, even the way we feel. Technology has changed the way we think without us ever even realizing it. We have information at our fingertips making the way we receive information forever. No longer do we have to search the library's for our papers. Even the way we socialize has changed. We simply go on an app to look at others across the world or to communicate. But this doesn't mean it’s not having a negative effect on us. T.M Luhrmann states “Nobody thinks for themselves anymore.” We simply just take what other’s say and believe it’s real. In T.M Luhrmann article “ Is The World More Depressed” explains that it has been recently learned that Facebook leads people to feel less about themselves in a single moment with their lives. One of those reasons being because they see others post these most flattering, beautiful photo’s and funny comments when their lives feels so gray and dull. This leading to sadness which soon could lead to depression. With social media increasing we have become to have a greater awareness of other people and where we stand in social space.

Technological advancements have made strides in cultural adaptation to successfully fabricate easements in life’s elaborate, intricate processes in the twenty-first Century. Business prospers with the use of e-mails to send notes within seconds of writing the thought rather than people having to engage in an hour-long conference, while the use of Skype has vastly increased how we interact with people from all over the world. The News was once posted once a day through tabloids or television, whereas today, the information would be missed and not updated with up-to-the-minute posts. Present-day children will be interacting with their friends in-real time and do not have to take time out of their schedule to form plans ahead of time. Consequently, people have abused how the internet was intended to be which has led to some undeniable, severe consequences. Technology, therefore, has negatively impacted how society’s simplistic, indispensable interactions through substitution of the human-connection experience, which affects people’s attention span shorter than it used to be, and providing a need for people to receive shallow and instant gratification about how people view the world.

Over the years, technology has had a detrimental effect on society by altering critical thinking, reading techniques, and the human thought process. In the article, Is Google Making Us Stupid, author Nicholas Carr, explains the disadvantages the web has had on modern day citizen’s creativity and ability to read efficiently. In contrast, in the article, Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis? Composer Stuart Wolpert dwells on how technology has improved societies visual skills. While both novels use quotes, research,

Mr. Ray Kurzweil, renowned inventor and author of The Singularity is Near, wrote in 2001 that technological progress was increasing twofold every decade, “We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century-it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate)” (qtd. in Berman and Dorrier). We are only in the beginning of the 21st century and yet technology is advancing faster than our ability to adapt! Technology has given society convenience and a higher standard of living with the creation of the internet, smartphones, increasingly useful robots, and artificial intelligence that learns (Rosoff). In the past couple of decades, continued integration of technology in society has dramatically increased, resulting in significant problems with respect to invasion of privacy and loss of basic freedoms. Technology has enabled governments and large corporations to collect personal data. Facial recognition and surveillance technology are being used for more than just “security.” Although this rise in technology has provided society with many different freedoms and benefits, technology will eventually lead to a society with little or no freedom.

Steven Spielberg once 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 are too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone.” This is an example on how telecommunications affect social interaction between people. As technology evolves, so does its negative outcomes towards young children. One can see that technology in cell phones are more harmful than beneficial since it creates distractions, cyberbullying, and connectivity to harmful predators.

In today’s society, technology is looked at in usually two different ways. It can be looked down upon or highly praised by many. Back then authors predicted and wrote about some technological advancements that are either portrayed as a helpful or detrimental. Two prime examples of this are “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “Fahrenheit 451”, both pieces of literature written by Ray Bradbury. Technology is usually praised by the masses due to the countless medical advancements, its positive effect on the education around the world, and its assistance with certain tasks. However, some people might think otherwise.