The Negative Effects Of Technology

Technology has always been a controversial subject between conservative people and innovators. Some people believe that it is a great tool to connect cultures and improve education and innovation in our society today, but others view it as a menace in our lives. “Growing Up Tethered” by Sherry Turkle and “George Orwell...Meet Mark Zuckerberg” by Lori Andrews both view technology as a dangerous tool. They believe in the many drawbacks of technology and the harm it can do to our lives with no explanation of the positive effects it has had on our society. “Our Future Selves” by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen plays the role of a positive look at technology and its role in our lives today. It gives examples of how advancing technology helps us and improves so many peoples’s lives. We can use Schmidt and Cohen’s essay as a lens to view the other two texts and gain a different understanding of what they are writing about.

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

Today’s modern life is surrounded with technology and it has been growing rapidly over time, becoming an important part of everyday life. It has become a major debate whether technology has a positive or negative impact on our youth. Technology has its impact on all ages such as adults, teens, and even our toddlers. Many companies are inventing tools for kids to help them learn in different ways which can make them more advanced than kids their age. As much as technology has changed the way our kids absorb information or entertain themselves, it has also affected their ability learn, their health, and also how they interact with others.  As children continue to become more occupied with technology, many adults have begun to wonder whether or not electronic devices is a good thing or not.

Technology is a vital part of today’s society. People use everyday talking to friends, communicating for others, and more. Technology is mostly a negative influence on people’s identities because it grants power without responsibilities, promotes narcissism, and can be dangerous to others (misuse).

“Technology should improve you life, not become you life” - Billy Cox. These words from the legendary bassist have a powerful meaning which can relate to today's society. The fascination of new technology has stolen the eyes of the people worldwide. As more breakthroughs with technology occur, people will become more dependent on a resource that is not reliable. In other words, more people will start to depend on modern technology with all of their needs, which can lead to reducing of their creativity and own intelligence. The uprising of new technology may have its advantages, but on the other hand, it can cause cyberbullying, health issues, and a lack of social skills.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Over the years, technology has been pushed into the spotlight and it affects almost everyone in the world in some way, shape, or form. Obviously, the influence of technology has evolved over time and will continue to be relevant in the future due to the progression of technology. How is technology actually affecting future generations? Sure, technology helps society in many different ways, such as reconnecting friends,providing support and spreading awareness for important issues. But, technology also accounts for brain and mental health damage, weight gain, and a negative impact on school grades. Is there a way to truly know the impact of technology and is it

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 a key factor in how the economy flows, and is a very important part of a typical person’s daily life. The use of technology over the years has increased by a very large amount. Technology is a part of everyone’s daily life. It is used in the classrooms, offices, automobiles, and just about anywhere that comes to mind. There are many positive effects of technology, but there are also many negative effects. The use of such technology makes everything more simple. Factories, for example, are mostly concocted of automatic machines that are ran by humans. According to Brookings, workers are producing 47 percent more than they were 20 years ago. This can be viewed as a great thing, or it can be viewed as terrifying. Society is

Usage 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 to be survival tools for humans, such as to make life easier and to 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