Essay on Positive and Negative Effects of Technology in Our Lives

Everyday we hear about the astounding technological advances discovered year after year. Thirty years ago, who would have thought that we would soon be able to communicate with a person half way around the world through a computer? The possibilities of technology are endless and beyond belief, but are these possibilities always beneficial in society, or are they causing more harm then help? Authors Pete Hamill, Grant Fjermedal and Roger Rosenblat take a look at certain forms of technology and the beneficial and detrimental aspects that have and will come from its advances.

Mom turns on the television and sets the table, dad comes home from work, checks his personal digital assistant for an email he’s been waiting on, while his daughter sits at the table finishing up a “thumb lashing” on her cell phone that she is giving to her “BFF” because she just failed her history test. This scenario has become the norm in homes across America today. It’s the digital age, technology is booming at such a rapid pace we cannot even wear out our devices before the newer up-to-date models arrive. Technology has negative effects on society, because it is causing our critical thinking and social interaction skills to decline, it is disrupting the American family unit, and it has caused us to become a distracted society that is

Technology is viewed as revolutionary, inventions that make our lives simply better by the touch of a screen to the click of a button. However, in the short story “The Veldt”, Ray Bradbury portrays that technology, despite its benefits, has many significant flaws. The improper and overuse of technology in “The Veldt” causes the characters to forget how to live for themselves. The technology takes over their independence as well as their personal lives and relationships. In “The Veldt”, Ray Bradbury asserts that becoming reliant on technology causes a strain on family relations, and can be dangerous to the way one functions as a human, taking away one's purpose in life.

Technology can become a necessity, to where we need it to communicate. In “Meet Your iBrain” it says, “As the brain evolves and shifts its focus to new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills, such as reading facial expressions during conversation or grasping the emotional context of a subtle scripture”. Technology has become a way out of in person communication. Whether it be sending a simple text or creating a false self-image on social media, technology provides as a buffer to reality. It goes in the article to say, “…young people eight to 18 years of age expose their brains to eight and a half hours of digital and video sensory stimulation a day”.

Despite the time people spend on technology devices, many seem to have a love/hate relationship with technology and social media, and the way it connects them to each other, to the world. Sherry Turkle, author of the article “Can You Hear Me Now?”, written in 2007, makes the statement, “Thanks to technology, people have never been more connected—or more alienated” (506). The title, “Can You Hear Me Now?” pokes fun of people receiving spotty cell phone service that threatens to disconnect their call; moving around hoping to improve the connection, and repeating the well-worn words, “Can you hear me now?” Practically everyone with a cell phone has said them. While Turkle’s argument might seem ineffective to some, she persuasively used her research to relate that people are, indeed, very connected to each other by technology and social networks, leashed to their devices, and yet, more disconnected or alienated than ever from their closest groups of friends and family.

Never had I been so intensely aware of the shape, the color of leaves, the varied patterns of veins that made each one unique” (148). Experiences like the one that Goodall could have only happened if she was completely unplugged and disconnected with people. While she was disconnected with humans she got to enjoy something most people wouldn’t be able to experience. Goodall was disconnected with humans on her journey; but, she made connections with chimps, which could be even more powerful than human connections. These relationships that Goodall formed with chimps could be more powerful than human connections, because individuals cannot communicate fully with chimps. However, if there is a connection there it is all from the vibes, emotions, and subconscious efforts too. When a person is unplugged from the internet they can have one of the clearest minds of all because they are not distracted by any types of distractions that the internet and electronics have. If disconnected from these distractions and the fakeness of putting an online profile, people will become a truer version of themselves that people once were only a few decades ago. Turkle explains, “People are lonely. The network is seductive. But, if we are always on, we may deny ourselves the reward of solitude” (265). This solitude that Turkle explains is one where individuals are not constantly searching for approval of the individuals around them while hiding behind a screen. The

He asserts that the connection problem is a result of having distant relationships, not the cause of it. Turkle does not agree. Instead, her position is that shared distant connections make it difficult to create authenticity in relationships. She further believes that technology is one of the biggest threats sustaining shared connections with others. She defines the shared connection as “a love relationship that involves coming to savor the surprise and the rough patches, of looking at the world from another’s point of view, shaped by history, biology, trauma, and joy. Computers and robots do not have these experiences to share” (268). No matter how smart or swift technology can be, it will never fulfill the need to maintain relationships with others. Hence, having relationships with technology, such as computers or robots, is incongruent with the physical and emotional experiences felt by human beings. On a basic level, technology can be a good choice because it can help people who are not good at having relationships with others. Technology can encourage and teach others to communicate, but this may not be as beneficial as one would hope. No matter how well people can communicate with technology, they may still have trouble with relating to others. The only way to

In today's society there is no escape from technology. We are completely submerged in our iPhone, ipads, computers, and gaming systems. These gadgets give us the opportunity to be connected to each other and the rest of the world at all times. But, this is not a glorious step in history. Technology blinds us from the real world. As John Tudor said, “Technology makes it possible for people to gain control over everything, except technology.” We may run our lives with the help of our iPhones and computers, but do these forms of technology in turn control us? At first glance these new advances are greater steps to making our lives easier. But, when examined closely a large portion of technology is the cause of many problems in our society.

Every day the world is changing and things are done differently. Technology has also affected the way students are taught and in which they learn. It has changed the classroom. Technology saves us time and allows us to access material in only minutes. “The Internet and online subscription databases, even as a supplement to the printed works in the library, allow students to see, and force them to consider or reject, points of view that they might never have encountered in decades past” (Gow 4).With all the time technology produces, it also has downsides and it also may have created a less intelligent society.

Technology has more negative effects on today’s society than positive. Due to technology in the past few decades Canine Shock Collars have been increasingly popular. Students in school pay more attention to texting than they do their classes. Violent addictive video games have made their way into American homes. Parents encourage their children to not text as much, but them to face the problem of constant communication. The Internet gives the students easier ways to cheat in school, and reinforces laziness. Internet Porn gives every bored male a chance to look at the seediest film in the comfort of his own home. Technology has taken the innocence and mystery away from the American family.

In the last twenty years the computer has changed the way we work, live, and communicate. This incredible form of technology is a major part in our society today. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have made communicating with our peers more convenient than ever before. Websites like YouTube have made people overnight celebrities and the Internet as a whole has made our society run more efficiently. Overall I believe that the digital revolution brought upon by computers have made our society a better place.

Over time, we have developed more and more advanced technology from radios to robots, this has impacted us in a way no one would imagine. In Sherry Turkle’s Ted Talk “Connected, but alone?,” Turkle clarifies how technology is redefining human connection. She points out that our cellphones are keeping us away from interacting with society and has a more significant influence on our communication in person than online. In addition, we tend to seek social media as a way of comfort and attention, and the more we are using our phones the more isolated and alone we become. Is technology really redefining human connection?

As far back as I can remember my family and I have taken advantage of technology. The types of technology have changed over the years, along with our usage and dependence on it. Technology is a fundamental part of our lifestyle, including both work and play. What is interesting is that we also have many friends who use very little technology in their day-to-day living. This drastic difference makes one wonder how necessary the technology really is, and whether or not our dependence on it is healthy in the long run. It is really easy to just get caught up in using technology without thinking about the pros and cons.

The definition of distraction can vary as a substitute for trying to fulfill the happiness of real love or to turn away from the pain of feeling the personal emptiness and our unableness to maintain loving relationships. We tried a countless number of ways to distract ourselves whether it’s playing too many video games, watching violent media, intoxicating our bodies with alcohol, or even medicating our head to taking mind-altering drugs just to move on to the next source of pleasure. In order to be happy it’s like a puzzle piece, pieces of distraction that cannot be solved, as in Fahrenheit 451, “We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy, something’s missing” (page 78 Bradbury). The puzzle seems to be missing a piece it’s absent, that one piece keeps chasing after pleasure and causing the pain blocking the door to pure joy and happiness. But it is the pieces that make up the big picture and technology is one of them, it plays a major role in the distraction category not only does it distract the young but it puts a mutual pause on life, although it may bring us many benefits we must be intentional in keeping the touch-screens in a proper place in our lives. Technology makes a wonderful friend, but a terrible best-friend.

With all of the new technology forcing itself into our lives, many of us can't help but get sucked into the excitement. So as we struggle to figure out where the future is heading, we ask ourselves is it good or bad? In my opinion, it's a little bit of both.