Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 5

Katie Slock

04.16.2017

Technology Essay

In todays society, we have an astronomical amount of advances in the realm of

technology. These advances give way for misuse and a reliance upon said technology.

Technology can be detrimental to not only peoples social lives, but also their physical

bodies. In the past, authors have predicted where technology will go in a hundred years.

The scary thing is, they were right. The increase in usage has seen many more health

issues than in the past. It has also caused a reduction in social interaction face to face

which is directly caused by the advances in technology. Our advances in technology will

one day overpower the human brain, taking away the purpose of humans.

Many studies have shown that the more we use technology, the more reliant we

become upon it. This reliance has led to more electricity use and more resources being

used. Usage of technology is quickly polluting earth and there is no real way to stop it

other than halting the use of technology. The chemicals that are used to create these

devices are generally made with ion batteries and materials that cannot be safely

disposed of in a normal trash can. However, people still do and therefore are polluting

our waste disposal even more than our trash and factories already do. Along with this,

there are no regulations on disposal of personal e-waste which only increases the

problem (25 Negatives). Along with the extra waste, we are using all of our resources in

order to ensure that we keep technology up and running. Imagine a power outage

across the country. Sounds unlikely, right? Like the blackouts in California, but the more
we advance, the more a wide scale outage is likely. There is no backup power source or

resources if that happens (Psych Central). Society would come to a halt and almost

everything we use would be virtually unusable because it is all electronic. To go even

further than that, imagine a situation like in the show Revolution where all electronic

devices, battery or not, are shut down due to an outside force that messed with all

power sources. The lack of survival skills and resources that people possess would

cause many deaths all across the country and create a frenzy of people panicking

because of the lack of power. This is proof of a reliance upon technology. One that can

go so far as to become an addiction, medically. Just like someone who is addicted to

drugs cannot go off of it, the same goes for technology addiction. It rewires your neural

pathways so that it is always in technology mode. This can lead to higher levels of

depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts (Addiction 101). Technology advances hurt

both mental health and the amount of non-renewable resources that we need for things

to stay alive.

If you look around, there is a large chance people you see will not be talking to

each other, instead they will be using some sort of technology which reduces face to

face interaction. These days, people are more interested in what is on their Instagram

feed. When children are growing up, they learn how to use an iPad before they learn

how to speak or read. They can navigate an iPad without even reading because they

know all the commands needed to get to their favorite game or tv show. In addition to

children growing up with technology ingrained in their minds, it is also damaging the

social connections that were used to create relationships. More specifically, dating.

Dating apps in todays society play more of a role than actually meeting anyone. There
is a video online called I tried to meet a woman the old fashioned way in which a guy

goes onto the streets to find a girl and is routinely turned down. Not always because of

his looks, but because the majority of them were on dates from online dating or were in

an online relationship. Meeting someone these days is rarely done in person, more

likely that someone will start the initial conversation online then maybe meet up in the

future (Technology Changing Relationships). Technology reliance also leads to more

scattered and distracted attention during conversation by constant checking of phones.

According to a 2015 poll of 453 adults across the United States, nearly half of all

respondents reported bring distracted by their phones in the presence of a romantic

partner (Good Therapy). It may also lead to uncontextualized texting. Which can lead to

misunderstanding that would happen in person because of the body language and voice

tone that is present in person.

Believe it or not, even though technology can help with study skills and

education, it is harming our brains and bodies more than it is helping it. Usage of

technology from a young age leads to a more scattered thinking process that is more

likely to lead to ADD. With the multitasking involved in having mobile devices on hand at

all time, peoples brains are less focused on the task at hand and more focused on what

is happening on their phone and in their social media realm (Psychology Today). With

the access to all of the world that technology allows, it opens the gate for developmental

damage through violent media and mature subjects. If you go onto Youtube, you can

find murders by ISIS, shootings on film, and videos of decapitations. Although there is

age restrictions, it is extremely easy to get around them by simply putting in a birth date

that is above the age of 18. With the access that children have to these things,
unknowingly going into a video of these things can cause traumatic experiences to

children who have yet to understand the things happening in the world. There is also a

large amount of sexual content that is not age restricted because it is under the

educational category that may not be appropriate for a child who is five years old and

scrolling through the website (Scholastic). Phones can not only be hurting our focus, but

it can also be damaging our bodies through changing sleep cycles and causing obesity.

Studies show that head position when looking at a phone or laptop can put strain on the

users spine causing neck and back problems later in life. It can also lead to reductions

in physical activity causing obesity. Radiation from phones, although controversial, is

said to cause cancer later in life. Whether or not it is worth it to the user is up to them,

but as we continue to not have a cure for cancer and the obesity rates skyrocket, small

changes, like reduction in technology, or not using it and hour before sleep can help

overall health (UCLA).

Although technology can help people with everyday tasks, it does more harm

than good to both the brain and body as well as damages the earth. It can be a great

thing or a horrible thing and how it evolves will determine the overall outcome of the

human race in the future. It may some day advance so far that it takes over humans and

the only way they communicate will be over technology through facetiming and

holograms. Though the future of humans and technology is unknown, humans must be

more careful about their advances and how they will affect them and their children in the

future.

Cook, Jia-Rui. "Digital Technology Can Be Harmful to Your Health." UCLA Newsroom. N.p., 29
Mar. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
"The Effects of Technology on the Brain." Scholastic. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Taylor, Jim. "How Technology Is Changing the Way Children Think and Focus." Psychology
Today. Sussex Publishers, 04 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Staff, GoodTherapy.org. "3 Ways Technology Can Negatively Impact Your Relationships."
GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. N.p., 13 Sept. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Leader, Jessica. "This Is How Technology Is Affecting Your Relationship." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
"Technology Addiction 101 | Symptoms of Technology Addiction." Addiction.com. N.p., n.d.
Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
"Why Reliance on Technology Is a Bad Thing." World of Psychology. N.p., 10 June 2009. Web.
17 Apr. 2017.
Hosale, Sheri. "25 Negative Effects of Technology." RooGirl. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Вам также может понравиться