Positive And Negative Effects Of Technology

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.

Today, about 9 in 10 Americans use the Internet and 77% of Americans own a smartphone. Compare these statistics to the early 2000s when 5 in 10 Americans were online and in 2011, when only 35% of Americans owned a smartphone. Just a few decades ago, the technology we have today were merely ideas in science fiction novels or gadgets seen in a futuristic movie. There is no doubt that technology use has increased dramatically within this decade and these numbers may continue to rise as technology becomes more available to the public. Technology is slowly taking over our life and so many people have grown up surrounded by technology that a life without it is pretty much unimaginable. As technology becomes a bigger part of our daily lives, we

“When girls wake up in the morning after sleepovers [they] don’t even talk to each other for a good 20 minutes. [They] just sit on [their] phones.” - a quote found on social media. Technology has made life easier, more convenient, and even boosted the economy- but has it made humans more alone? Instead of talking to a person that might be two feet in front, humans stare at their phone. Technology, especially social media has impacted society, and not for the better. The crucial, still developing, generation such as children and young adults are impacted negatively. Growth in technology has lead to dependence on devices, a growing conformation to society's definition of perfect, and a fear of missing out- creating an isolated society.

Should parents be more aware of the technology their children are using? Children are learning to use technology at a younger age, and the younger they are the more adaptable their mind is. Technology forms the growing mind, but parents should be aware of what their child's mind is growing too. Teenagers use of technology and social media has been causing peer pressure, online violence, and cyberbullying, which are why some adults say it is ruining the childhood of many. The development of modern culture and technology is changing so rapidly that there are some disadvantages on childhood, although some people say it is a positive effect on children. So are the advancements of technology a positive or negative effect on children?

Technology has had one of the most incredible breakthroughs in the world. This is apparent in all of the surroundings in everyday life. Younger people now have a huge access to the internet than ever before. Social media is meant to connect people with friends and family to keep us connected and feel together. Also, the internet has other means of connecting people together and can even give people joy while talking to people. While this technology is great, people tend to believe that technology is making us more alone and disconnected with the world. They feel they lost contact with that person due to them being on their devices. Also, when taking a look around almost anywhere, it’s likely people are looking down at their phones not speaking to one another. This can make our society look less social and very dependent on technology. There is a bridge between technology helping us and working against us socially. Technology has such a great impact on our lives that we should use it to keep connections with people important to us but also try not to abuse it when not needed.

Believe it or not there was once a time when humans had to talk to each other in the car instead of play games and listen to music on their phones. Times are changing and Technology is becoming a necessity in today’s society, but does that mean society needs to let technology form and manipulate its brain? This is a very prominent topic in the world today that needs to be addressed and thought about. There are definitely positives effects of technology in society and there is definitely negative effects of technology in society. I believe that overall technology has a negative effect on the human brain.

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.

The use of technology varies amongst different age groups, often used for productive means, but there is also a negative side of technology usage. With the advancement of technology, technology is considered as survival tools for humans. These generally make life easier and helps humans be extra productive. Moreover, Adults harness the power of technology to solve complex problems. Usually, this can only be done with the aid of a computer. Another arena of technology use is for school, both, parents and teachers believe technology helps enhance learning. Although technology is meant to be useful in different scenarios, it does not always mean it is healthy. For example, as suggested in a study – “Students who use less technology, score higher on reading exam versus those who use technology above the average” (Bremmer, 2016). Society has evolved to misuse technology in many unhealthy ways; these ‘negative uses’ have many ramifications for individuals.

Technology; the rise or fall of our existing generations? Research has shown that technology impacts our thinking and mental processes. Unfortunately, the impacts do not appear to be in our favor. There are four categories that the negative impacts from technology usage, on the human mind, divide into. The categories are memory loss, alterations in our learning styles, adverse impacts on focus, and a diminishing mental importance of the physical world around you.

Throughout all of its years, this world has become a birthplace to numerous technological breakthroughs. From the invention of the very first wheel to today’s quantum supercomputers, it’s obvious that this world has always been technology driven. These advances have aided in areas such as agriculture, communication, travel, and leisure. Leisure is defined as “time free from the demands of work or duty, when one can rest.” People go about various ways of filling their spare time, whether it be spending time with family or playing video games with friends. Handheld digital devices, like the Nintendo DS, have been around for years but the use of technology did not seem to present a problem until smartphones and tablets became popular in the early 2000’s. It is very likely that a teenager will come in contact with one, two, or maybe even three digital screens throughout the course of his or her day. Just like gamblers, users of this technology are on the search for instant gratification and immediate responses. Teens utilize computers to search for information and complete schoolwork, cell phones to communicate and engage in social media, and televisions to binge watch episodes of their favorite show on Netflix. While many argue that teens are not negatively impacted by the constant use of technology, detrimental effects of screen obsessiveness have become a concern in a teenager’s ability to focus as well as maintain social interactions.

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.

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.

The use of technology has become very common in today’s society. This is because people can contact others regardless of the distance, time, and language. Such barriers confronted in reality are easily avoided using technology such as Google Translate and cell phone services. With advancing technology, it is becoming more challenging to avoid using. To make people buy technology, releases of new products in today’s society cause people to devote more time to learning the differenced in the product. A well-known example of this is Apple products. With new phones, laptops, and software people constantly have to adjust to the differences. Multiple careers worldwide use technology on a daily basis to perform a multitude of tasks. All over the world people email each other, post on social media, and search countless topics on the Internet. Speedy contact with others can assist countless tasks, from personal to professional usage. Even with the advantages technology can provide someone there still is multiple inconveniences. Regrettably, many people do not realize that numerous complications arise from overusing this technology. Technology weakens social skills and a person’s health by lowering one’s sociability, increasing loneliness, and weakening their overall well-being.

Technology has developed rapidly for decades and our societies have been influenced in many ways. Continuously, technology improvement is changing the method in which people are educated, how people work and how people live. Obviously, it brings much better convenience for people's living, however people are concerned about the negative effects of technological advances. In particular, the most notable worry about the negative impact of technology is that technology will surpass human skills and capabilities in the future. However, In The Second Machine Age, Brynjolfsson and McAfee explain that even if a machine takes the place of people's work in various workplaces, the machine will dominate and not be defeated because people have superior ability in terms of ideation. They said that Human ideas are an important key to success in human life rather than machines’ creative thinking. The ways for improving creative and critical thinking skill are getting Liberal Arts education and confidence. In Jones`s article “Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being Useless,” he said liberal arts education is leads to improve qualitative knowledge as well as leads to success. Also in Kay & Shipman article “The Confidence Gap”, they said confidence is important element for success. There are points of sameness which are can contribute to success. Liberal arts education and confidence can help you to think creatively. According to Brynjolfsson and McAfee, Jones and Kay & Shipman, we need to reconsider about the value of liberal arts education because liberal arts education can help critical thinking to be successful in the present day.

Technology is everywhere. Technology makes learning in classrooms easier and more interactive, it also helps kids find creativity in making and designing things online. It helps enhance a students thinking too. Yet, several scientist have shown that technology is just as addictive as drugs and harming to your health, and not just your health, it breaks away relationships you have made with others.