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 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.

Today’s society is more affected by technology than it ever has been and it is changing every second of every day. Advancements in technology have been changing our culture and society for hundreds of years; from hunters and gatherers to information overload to a future of the most advanced technologies we could imagine. These fast advancements in technology quickly change our society. This statement was greatly expanded upon by three people: Gerhard Lenski, Leslie White, and Alvin Toffler

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

Albert Einstein once said “ I fear that technology will surpass our interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” Many people tend to think that technology is one of the best things to ever happen , but others believe that it is starting to have a negative effect on humanity. There are many different types of technology, but the two most commonly used are cell phones and computers. Our generation is being raised alongside technological evolution. Individuals use technology everyday for many different occasions, whether it be for work, school, or just to play video games. People don’t realize that they could outside enjoying their life and having fun, but instead they choose to stay inside on their computers or cellphones. Humans are being taught that technology is the reason behind everything that is happening in society today. Technology is supposed to make life easier for everyone. While it is true that technology contributes a lot of good to the world today, it has not came without a price. There are various negative effects that technology has caused in today’s generation. Technology is negatively affecting humankind because it is making people depressed, it is beginning to make individuals simple minded, people are becoming addicted to their technology, and because it is starting to make human beings do things that will put them in dangerous situations.

Throughout the past couple decades, cell phones and laptops have become a large part of daily life for most human beings. In fact, in today’s society it is rare to find someone who does not own some sort of cellular device. Although technology has many useful perks, it is beginning to deteriorate our society’s social skills and social life. Teenagers in today’s world are too digitally connected, and this brings along the negative effects of a decrease in real-life conversation, increased laziness, and more distractions in a number of different environments.

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 best thing to happen to humanity or the worst? Technology has revolutionized our generations and many to come: Over 90% of adults have their mobile device with reach of them at all times, 4 of the 7 billion people in the world has a mobile device, eBay makes on average 700$ per second, google receives over a billion searches on average per day (The Future of Technology and its Effects). Technology has helped save many people in fields like medicine and health care and in cancer alone has saved an estimated 14.5 million lives(News.” HealthCare Institute of New Jersey), but is indirectly responsible for nearly all deaths in our world. Although the negatives of all the deaths and social skills lost to technology, the good out ways the bad with advancements in medications, education, and communication.

Siri, Alexa, video games, smart cars, online customer support, security surveillance, Spotify, Pandora, Netflix. All of these applications are similar in one way: they’re all artificial intelligence. And whose to say it might take over the world one day. Our generation today has essentially grown up around the use of technology. By a young age, most children are able to work through a phone or computer/tablet to get the solution they need. This type of technology is right at our fingertips each and every day, allowing people to find and answer in a short amount of time. It is efficient, but is that always a good thing? Machines these days are taking over and they are everywhere you look. Many are being used very wisely, but some are being used in a feeble minded way. Many argue that by using artificial intelligence it will hurt our lives tremendously. However, the use of this global machinery clearly shows that it will give us a more prosperous and healthy lifestyle.

Many people use electronics everyday, but could the way we use technology have negative consequences on us? Before today, the effects of technology were much less apparent, but now, we are effected constantly by technology, and not in a good way. Because we use technology practically everyday, there will be negative effects caused by our everyday use, and it shows, such as lack of sleep, losing the ability to remember information as well, and becoming easily distracted.

“For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three,” said Alice Kahn. Walking down the hall at school, most students are on their phones because they just got out of class and have not had it for forty minutes. Technology has overtaken most of the lives of teenagers. It can be used for the good of the people or tear people down. Technology often makes people more alone due to the fact that it has overtaken some people’s lives, people spend more time on their phones than being productive, source of cyberbullying, people care more about how they look online rather than in person, use it as a replacement for interactions, and some schools want to revamp learning to online.

Technological advances in US industries are destroying jobs and distancing people from direct social interaction. However, technological advances have undoubtedly raised both the standard of living and the average life expectancy. Technological advancement in agriculture have resulted in increased food production, reducing the possibility of famine, even as the population continues to grow. Technology has allowed people to do both fantastic and terrible things, yet technology cannot be blamed as the cause of those good or bad results; technology is merely an instrument for the user, resulting in either good or bad outcomes.

Technology is the science or knowledge put into use to solve problems as well as invent useful tools. It is a necessity used in everyday lives because of its advancement, especially in today’s world, from curing illnesses to being able to talk to someone across the country with one single electronic device. Although technology may look as if it’s beneficial to our society, it will ruin the future of the human race. We live in a place with hate all around that can be the cause to an atrocious downfall. Countries use this power to overthrow each other with the use of weapons such as nuclear bombs that can easily wipe out a city with one single button. Similarly, the novel Level 7, by Mordecai Roshwald, gives a great realistic outlook of what would happen if the government were to use a nuclear bomb to wipe out their enemies. Other novels such as The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells indicate the negative viewpoint, not only with death but what the future of technology will hold for the human race. Technology will eventually become so powerful that humans will no longer be able to control it causing their immense downfall.

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.