Technology : Technology And The Effects Of Technology

In the 21st century nothing has been more influential on the human race than technology has. Technology is a part of anything and everything and the thought of no technology would be considered the apocalypse. Two women, Jane McGonigal, a video game designer, and Sherry Turkle, a technology professor at MIT, both have their own perspectives on technology and how it impacts emotions. McGonigal’s main focus is how video games can be used as a model on how we as humans can make this world a better place. Turkle’s studies are focused on how technology such as cell phones, online avatars, and social media make a whole generations personal development different from past generations. McGonigal is extremely optimistic towards the idea of not only video games but technology as a whole being a huge impact on the improvement of earth’s population. Turkle is more skeptical on technology bringing up thought evoking questions regarding whether technology and its effects on us should be considered good or bad. Even with their contrasting topics both of these women are trying to show how the technology of everyday life alter the emotions. Turkle and McGonigal’s ideas are comparative regarding the emotional effect on people using alternate realities being positive and they also agree that technological communication has become a tool for emotional benefit in society, but their technological views differ on how technology will help us mature as a person.

Technology is as much of a distraction as it is an asset. It took me 30 minutes to begin this essay because my phone is right next to me, and I got a text. A single message turned into a full conversation along with an update on multiple social media apps. I was annoyed with my phone because it distracted me from my essay, but how could I stay mad at something so important to me? Without my phone I doubt I could be a functioning adult. I couldn’t have bought my Starbucks this morning, I used the mobile app, and I couldn’t have boarded my plane, my boarding pass was sent to my email, and I couldn’t have called an Uber to get back to school.

Through the years technology has been evolving increasingly, from flip phones to smartphones to watches used as phones, type writers to laptops to touch screen laptops and radios to basic televisions to big screens to flat screens and on to smart screens. Growing up, I would often spend time watching many hours of television. As a teenager, I also would begin spending more time on phone; talking, texting and video chatting. In today the world, the internet is highly influential, and is filled with a plethora of information about many things. For a long time, phones and the internet have become very problematic because of the lack of communication. Because technology may have a negative effect, it can lead to an overload from the media, to phones hindering writing skills and online communication can affect face to face communication.

1) Based on the resources provided above, how would you define technology? Be sure to use your own words!

A cartoon about this subject features a man at a dinner table asking if his family members (all of whom are completely absorbed in electronics) if they had read an article on “how electronic gadgets undermine our ability to focus and concentration.” However, he fails to even finish his sentence before his attention is stolen by another article (Gadget). The irony behind the cartoon is that he is distracted by his tablet just as he begins to realize that his tablet is distracting him from his life. He is unable to recognize his inability to focus, even as it is spelled out for him, because technology has severely impacted his brain and thought process. An article in The Telegraph further explores the idea that the cartoonist is making. The writer, Nicholas Carr, argues that the internet has made us accustomed to over-simplified information and an unhealthy level of multitasking. This dangerous combination has altered our brains, making us easily distractible and scatterbrained (Carr). These mental changes even impact the way we process real-world information. Personally, I find it is becoming increasingly difficult to read long passages, because I am now used to information being delivered in a quick and simple fashion. Thus, in this regard, technology is heavily impact our day-to-day

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

Technology is used on a daily basis to accomplish specific tasks or interests. Modern technology increases human capabilities and this technology has evolved with years. Technology simplifies life in so many ways and everyone defines technology in their own way. They’re new types of technology on the market, this technology simplifies our daily lives. They’re endless demands as consumers of technology, people use technology to accomplish simple tasks every day. Technology’s used in business, education, communication, healthcare, entertainment and so much more. There’s an unquestionable impact of technology on society. Whether considering the plow, vaccinations, or the internet, technology has had a huge impact on society. While not every advance benefits society, there’s many positive effects of technology. Modern technology makes life more convenient now more than ever. Modern technologies like broadband internet makes it possible to access relevant information at any time anywhere. Today’s technology makes it simple for students to learn from anywhere through online education and mobile education, which improves the education system. It also improves the health system, most hospitals have implemented modern technology in surgical rooms, which may reduce the number of mistakes made by doctors. Modern technology’s more convenient than when it was simpler because, it provides an easy way to access information, improves the education system, and it improves the health system.

For me, the technology is just like a door which brings me to an absolutely new world. It is also like a wire that connects me and the outside world. The first thing that I do before getting up and the last thing that I do before going asleep is checking my cell phone. Every day, I do homework, write blogs, send and receive emails, take photos, know about the latest news, and chat with friends with the aid of technologies. My attitude toward technology is complex. I am obsessed with technology which makes my life more convenient, but I am also afraid of it because I find that I cannot cut it out.

In the article, “How to do one thing at a time”, the reading shows the negative effects of multitasking by stating examples from different sources. Multitasking is really harmful. When you try to do so many things at once. You can't finish it properly. For example, “talking on the phone and texting while driving? Really dumb idea”. The reading shows that texting while driving can be harmful and there is much chances of accident. While you are on phone during driving, you can't focus on the road if any car is coming. Many people died because of this. It's not even necessary to look at phone while driving, you can check it later unless emergency. That's one of the reason of decreasing population. Another example, “at stanford university, a group of students were asked to compile a music playlist, chatting, and writing short essay at once in 30 minutes. Another group focused on each task individually for 10 minutes. Afterward, they were given a memory test. The ones who did individually did better than multitasking peers”.(line 11 & 12).

If the world went without technology for at least a day, how would we react? would people go crazy and wonder around like it’s the end of the world? I believe that technology is affecting us negatively and harming us because we are treating it as our number one source in our lives.

Technology is constantly evolving and is becoming more and more integrated into people’s daily lives. Most people’s entire lives is are their phones. Contacts, appointments, emails, music, passwords, and those all important social media profiles, all located on one tiny device that fits in the palm of a hand. Technology holds so much power; it can be used to make, enhance, or sometimes avoid conversation. Texts, calls, emails, tweets, are all used to spark and continue conversation as well as connect people to one another. The most important thing technology does is bring people together no matter how far apart they are.

Have you ever been in a room with a bunch of people and when you look around you notice everyone is on their phones? It seems that today technology has become something that we need, something that we cannot live without. Everywhere you go you see people on phones, laptops, ipods, tablets etc. Manufacturers are working hard to make sure technology is constantly adapting and progressing. Manufacturers compete to make the latest devices, and customers demand the newest and best version. In the news, on TV, or in magazines you can see that technology is reaching new levels each and every day. On a daily basis, companies are advertising new and upcoming technology whether it is a new update, a new app or even a newer device. I feel that in this day and age, technology is causing an addiction that prevents people from being physically social. Those affected by the addiction are zoned into that bright screen, and are not focussed on family, friends or even their job.

Progress is now the single biggest unifying idea in the world. The progressive advancements in technology we are accustomed to today are due to the Industrial Revolution that started in the late 1700s. Since then, societies have prioritized progress in hopes of improving the standard of living. This mindset has led to a world where individuals no longer experience real life, which then further effects human relationships. This cycle of events is destroying what it means to be human.

With this new glass of Merlot by my side, I sit and wonder at the amazement of technology. Each velvety sip opens me up in my corner a little more just as technology has done so for the world. But now I must go off and ponder further on into an important philosophical question of whether this technology, endless as it has come to be, should be considered as a thing that has brought out the best or the worst in society. How complex a question! Surely I could easily look back fondly and count the many ways that technology and its manifold presence has been nothing but a blessing, not only to facilitating human kind, but also our intrinsic pursuit of society. But now, as easy as that might be, it would be a more healthy venture to play the

Technology has changed so many of the ways in which we live our lives, from the invention of the wheel to the advanced systems we use and take for granted everyday. Technology was once taboo in most house holds while people still clung to the idea that life was built on life experiences. Nicholas Carr stated in, Is Goggle making us stupid? "Back in the fourth century, BCE, Plato complained that writing (then a fairly new technology) was destroying peoples memory, yet he wrote dozens of books. For half a century, television has been accused of rotting our brains and making us fat and lazy, but most people depend on it for info, news and entertainment." Technology has changed our understanding of the way things work and