Steven Righter

English 101

Paula Boyd

April 24, 2017

Technology Drawbacks

Technology has come a long way and made major advancements throughout the years.

We live in a technology saturated world where every individual, regardless of age, seems to rely

on technology as much as they rely on the air they breathe. Technology is taken for granted,

especially by the younger generations who dont remember life without it. Almost every time

one goes to a restaurant, looking around at the tables throughout the dining area, over half of the

diners can be seen sitting with phone in hand, not paying attention to their company or to the

menus, music, atmosphere, or the food placed before them. With that being said, there are both

positive and negative results of technological advances in todays world. Despite the negative

aspects of total reliance on technology in general, and cell phones or other hand held devices in

particular, there are obviously many positive aspects as well. Although there are advantages of

modern technology, it seems the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, especially in terms of real-

world technology.

One of the more unfortunate negative aspects of technology is the way it can change how

children think, or their ability to be able to think and reason. Over use of technology can change

a childs brain and the way they process information from a very young age. Many children, and
even adolescents and adults, love sitting down and watching television, playing video games, or

computer games. This in turn can limit people in time spent outside and actually playing

interactive games and getting exercise. The incidence of inactivity and lack of exercise is rising

in todays society. Overuse of technology and lack of movement and exercise can lead to

childhood obesity, and even obesity in adults who do not balance their exercise with their work

time. Childhood obesity is on the rise, and technology can be at least partially to blame. During

the time our parents were growing up, when kids got together to play, they played outside. They

ran and jumped and played games like tag and red rover that are all but extinct today due to

technology. Today, when kids talk about playing together, they get on x-box live and interact

over their television screens. In the past, to talk to the neighbor down the block, kids walked and

met half way between their houses. Today, they pick up their cell phones and text. We cannot

put all of the blame on children because they might not know they are putting themselves at risk

of obesity. Most children are following the leads set by their parents, and dont know what day

to day activity looks like without technology. Just like the adults, children need to learn to

balance technology and exercise to live a happy and healthy life.

The article Can You Hear Me Now? from Sherry Turkle brought up some great points

that I feel may be affecting children and even adults today. Are we losing our ways of

communication to constant texting and emailing? It seems person to person contact is decreasing

because of the use of technology. As stated in the article, I have traveled 36 hours to a

conference on robotic technology in Japan. In todays world it seems as if everything is started

to be ran by technology, and it is taking over jobs that were once tackled by humans. The number

of people needing and wanting jobs is growing while the number of jobs available is declining,

partially because the world is being taken over by technology. We ready ourselves to receive a
text message or receive an email back when we could have taken the time to go see this person

and have face to face conversation, or at the very least call them on the phone to actually hear

each others voices. It is truly sad to think that communication between people is being blocked

by a cell phone or a computer. This places children in a difficult position because they are

growing up in this world of technology and they might not know another way to communicate

when they grow up as adults in this world. Children today might honestly only know how to text

someone if they need anything, or send an email when they have a questions instead of talking

face to face. Their social skills might not be as good as they would be without the advances in

technology. There are likely many more youth today who are comfortable making a video or

mastering a video game than actually making a speech in public or answering questions face to

face. Another good point made by Turkle in her article was the fact that humans are losing the

time to take their time. People are always in a rush and feel like they have to multitask which

doesnt allow for them to take their time and make sure their work is done neatly.

Another negative secondary effect of the use of technology in the form of

communication devices is the inability to determine the tone or inflection you would hear from

the spoken word. For example, people commonly say that when you text in ALL CAPITAL

LETTERS you are supposedly yelling. But what about short sayings, phrases, or words that

could be interpreted two or more ways? Does yeah right mean you completely agree? Or does

it mean something more similar to whatever? If you hear yeah right said out loud over the

phone, you can hear the inflection and know more how it is meant. If you hear yeah right and

see the facial expression of the person talking face to face with you, you stand much less chance

of misunderstanding the meaning behind the words. Many youth of today have completely lost,

or not ever even learned the art of conversation and face to face communication. In Boorstins
article Technology and Democracy: Getting There Is All the Fun he discusses attenuation,

especially as it relates to technology. His example about Rebecca at the well describes how the

technological advance of running water caused Rebecca to no longer congregate with her friends

at the well. Likewise, with the use of cell phones and computers, people no longer congregate as

they did in olden times around the towns one cranked telephone. Technology has also resulted

in the attenuation of experiences. Instead of talking about remember that time when people

can relive that time over and over by recording it on technology devices.

I would not agree that emailing and using a cell phone or computer is all bad, because it

does have its many positive aspects. It is obviously a way to get a quick response and finish work

or assignments in a timely manner. If someone is unable to talk on the phone, emailing would be

a perfect option for them. Human to human, face to face, contact should not be pushed off to the

side or eliminated just because we find texting or sending an email is an easier way of

communication. We spend so many hours of our days looking down at a screen when just a few

short feet away we have an entire world in front of us that we arent even aware of. Its crazy

how consumed we are in our phones and putting all of our time into these little pieces of

technology when there is so much more out there that needs to be done, and so many more

important things than just being sedentary and staring at a screen wasting daylight.

Many young adults are realizing the importance of learning effective in person

communication when they enter the job world. A high grade point average and above average

SAT score may get one in to the college or university of their dreams, however even with that

summa cum laude degree, if a person cannot communicate well in a face to face interview, that
job they have always wanted may very well be offered to the person with a slightly lower grade

point average and exemplary communication skills.

Over the years technology has changed drastically. We live in a world that is slowly

becoming overran by technology. Younger generations dont realize how lucky they are to be

able to have technology at basically any place they go. People of all ages uses cell phones,

computers, tablets, and other forms of technology. While there are many positives for using

technology, there are also some negatives. But when looking at both the positives and the

negatives of technology, I believe that the positives outweigh the negatives.

I honor Parklands core values by affirming that I have followed all academic integrity

guidelines for this work.

 Works Cited

Boorstin, Daniel J. Technology and Democracy: Getting There Is All the Fun. Democracy

and Its Discontents. New York: Random House, 1974. 229-40. Print.

Turkle, Sherry. Can You Hear Me Now? Forbes 7 May 2007: 176+. Academic

Search Premier. EBSCO. Parkland College Library, Champaign, IL. Web. 27

Mar. 2008.