|
| Marc Bousquet |
| Printable Version |
Technology is widely associated with efficiency, growth, and convenience, but does technology actually improve our quality of life? Technology allows people to gather information instantly, listen to any song at any time, and cyber-stalk close friends and distant acquaintances. But, as technology has branched out and become a social networking tool and a breeding ground for efficiency, it seems like we, as humans, have become less social and efficient. We’ve become so reliant on technology that without it, we have regressed as a society. With the invention of things like the iPhone, the problem is getting even worse. Apple’s advertising slogan is, “There’s an app for that.” The problem is that there is actually is an app for that, this, and everything. An iPhone can find the closest In-N-Out, estimate the walk or drive time, provide games to play in the car, and turn off the lights at home that you forgot to turn off, while playing your favorite songs. It takes problem solving out of the equation, an essential skill that is now lacking in people today. Even though it seems like Apple is the driving force behind this problem, they’re not the only ones.
One hundred-fifty million people actively use Facebook. It has become a worldwide phenomenon that is growing by the second. It’s a social network that connects the lives of friends and friends of friends so that each person can have a small window into the lives of everyone he or she knows. Facebook indulges into the natural human desire for attention, making it naturally addicting. Because this access to attention and socializing had never existed before social networking, people didn’t feel a need for it, but today it has become more than a need. It’s a priority. And because it’s so easily accessible, it is an easy distraction to anyone trying to do anything productive. For most students, time on Facebook is comparable to time writing essays or doing homework. It’s easily the biggest distraction kids have to deal with because Facebook embodies their social life. Now the social pressures of school ad work have crept into the personal lives of everyone. And now, Facebook is even beginning to replace the social lives of our society. Commenting on a person’s status is barely social, but somehow this has replaced phone calls or even face-to-face interaction. Facebook entered an unknown market and created a need for every adolescent in the technological world. And, most importantly, it’s free, so everyone has one. There is no denying that Facebook is genius idea. It appeals to every kid or young adult, but that is the biggest problem. It’s too appealing. It makes people less productive because it consumes such a large part of everyone’s life. It’s an extension of the social life of every person, while making people less social.
In the few ways that Facebook can’t appeal to the common teenager, Youtube does. Youtube is a bookmark on every teenager’s computer. Professors constantly use it in class. It’s the first place people want to go to see a new music video, and the last place people want to go when their friends post an embarrassing video of them. It, like Facebook, created its market. Before Youtube existed there was nothing like it. It was based on a simple, but unique idea that people don’t want to go through the hassle of putting a clip on a videotape to watch a one-minute video of a friend trying to eat a spoonful of cinnamon, and that maybe someone halfway around the world would like to watch their friend eat a spoonful of cinnamon. Youtube is not just any website. While Facebook is a window into the social lives of friends, Youtube is a literal cyber-window into the lives of strangers. It allows the viewer to see a part of their life that they consider to be significant in some way or another. This seems completely harmless, but the fact that it is so popular, and that teens spend time on Youtube when they should be being productive for school is a problem. Its ability to provide instant access to any type of video the viewer wishes to see has taken away the concept of patience in the lives of young people today. There is no need to wait for anything anymore. But, on the rare occasion that waiting is required, it makes it that much more difficult, especially to young kids or students.
Technology is everywhere in a student’s life. It has made libraries, typewriters, and even textbooks obsolete. These improvements can aid the student in learning more and getting more work done in a shorter amount of time. The tools specific to facilitating learning have made the production of students increase exponentially. Microsoft Office specifically can save students countless hours because of its simple set up, countless writing tools, and ability to crunch numbers in Microsoft Excel. But, with all of these improvements come overwhelming distractions and crutches. Devices like iPods, video game consoles, and smart phones actually make the common student less efficient. Instead of writing papers, they’re playing video games like “Call of Duty” or listening to music on their iPods or on iTunes. But, these are only minor distractions compared to the Internet. Every possible piece of useless information can be found at the click of a button. Today, the aforementioned Youtube and Facebook are the two most significant distractions. So instead of being in room with nothing to do but put pen on paper and write an essay, students today are in constant battles with their own attention spans, and more often than not, their attention spans win. Also, students are becoming completely reliant on technology. For example, when the campus wide Internet went down at Santa Clara University in the first week of school, the students were worthless. They sat around waiting for it to come back, opposed to actually going to the library and using books for research. This is just another example of the diminished problem solving skills due to technology. Take away these computers and smart phones, and students would not be able to function at the level they could have around fifteen years ago. Technology has become a crutch that all students just hope will be there forever, which for many people will be true, but for some there might be in a situation someday where this complete reliance on technology could hurt them. But students aren’t the only ones capable of falling into the trap that our technological world has set for them.
The workplace is no different than schools in that technology fundamentally makes it a more efficient place. Information can be shared quicker, people can communicate from all different places, and every equation that needs to be solved can be solved in a seconds by a computer. But the more technology grows, the less valuable the human worker becomes. With machines being able to do more, there are fewer people needed within each company, which means fewer jobs, which means economic problems. But the most significant problem is on a smaller scale, within the workplace. With digital communication becoming more advanced, there are more and more people working from home. While this is a great luxury for the individual, this could be a detriment for the workforce as whole. Face-to-face social interaction cannot be simulated by a computer. The camaraderie of actually working with a team cannot be replaced. These are key factors in having a successful business, and we have sacrificed this for money.
New innovative ideas make money. It’s plain and simple. Apple is one of the most profitable companies in world, and it is also one of the most innovative companies in the world. It doesn’t improve products within a market. It creates markets. It made one of the first computers, mp3 players, and smart phones. It also created the iPad, which has inspired several other companies to try to mimic it. Their products have revolutionized our world today, and because they “improve the consumer’s way of life,” there is no reason to hold back production of the aforementioned products. Each one of their products individually makes life easier for the consumer, but, as a whole can make them much less efficient and self-sufficient due to their need to rely on these products. People no longer need to think to get through their day. Apple’s products do the thinking for them. All people need to do is pull their iPhone out, and their mobile brains begin to do their jobs for them. Apple has been able to create things that really do change the way people live. They have proven that there is truly no limit to human potential, but should there be?
Being an engineer or scientist is an extremely desirable job for a reason. They get to make their imaginations come to life. In the past decade this has become more and more true. Things are being made that no one could have dreamed of thirty years ago. Because making these things come to life is these people’s job, they don’t consider the moral liability. Their job is purely to make the product. The burden is on the buyer to consider the moral problems. Unfortunately the people buying these ideas have only one thing on the agenda: making money. So because no one has stopped to investigate whether this technological expansion is a good thing, everyone has just gone along and assumed it’s good. But why would anyone think otherwise? Technology is answering questions that no one thought would be answered. Because there are no physical boundaries to human knowledge, we are going to continue to push our limits until someone with the power to change human life considers our moral limits. Technology has done plenty of damage to the individual. People are less self-sufficient and they get more distracted, so they are less efficient. But, when it’s all said and done, our environment and our relationship with it might be the biggest victims.
Technology has without a doubt harmed the planet. Pollution is a major side effect of the increase in technology. The holes in the ozone layer, due to green house gases, are getting bigger every day. But, then again, technology is the only way to fix what man has already done. Electric cars and nuclear energy are the future. Green technology is the fastest growing industry in the world, because we are just realizing the impact our growth has caused. But, the biggest concern with man’s relationship with nature is at a more personal level. At the beginning of time, man’s relationship with nature was an intimate one. Each person, individually, relied on the Earth for food and shelter, and because of this, there was a great respect for the environment. Now, new gadgets just provide more motivation for people to stay inside, essentially ruining man’s relationship with nature. We’re trying to save nature, as we begin to enjoy it less. People don’t even need to go outside anymore. Groceries can be delivered, education can be received online, work can be done at home, and everything else a person needs is already at home. We are distancing ourselves from nature as we try to save it.
Technology is supposed to make life easier, but it doesn’t. Life is exponentially more difficult. The ability to do work faster doesn’t make life easier because more work is expected out of the individual it just comes with the pressure of completely relying on a piece of equipment to function flawlessly, and when it doesn’t, even more pressure comes with fixing it, and fixing it fast. Life was simple fifty years ago. There was no stress over the Internet being down. There were no worries over the printer not working. A pen and paper never broke down, and if one did, it cost ten cents to replace it. Now that we have all this power over the world around us, we use it to make our lives more difficult while consuming the resources of our planet at a much more rapid rate. Innovation in technology shouldn’t stop. There have been some great technological advances that have clearly helped both the human race and the Earth, but there needs to be a happy medium between create without any pause, and completely stopping all together. Cutting back on the production of new technology would allow us to focus on becoming better individual people and hopefully make the world better.
|
|
|