Technology Is Taking Over
As a world champion, Garry Kasparov was at a loss for words when IBM’S deep blue supercomputer beat him in a six game chess tournament. After being defeated and feeling unsettled by his loss, Kasparov came up with the idea of combining computers and humans. He felt that a computer and a human playing together against another human and computer would allow each team member to feed off one another. From this idea, the question of whether or computer or human was smarter in chess was answered. A combination of the two showed the highest level of intelligence.
From this story comes the question of how technology affects humans. Though it may help humans expand their knowledge it may also have harmful effects. In his writing, Thompson explains how technology has forced people to record events that happen to them as well as helping us connect things to each other and greatly increasing communication and publication. Through studying technology and its effects on people, Thompson learned that he did not foresee the positivity that would come from technology. After much research and reading, he came to the conclusion that technology is not all bad despite what people might think, and it has allowed chess players to become grandmasters at a younger age.
Thompson used chess as an example to prove to people that technology does not only have negative consequences. He explains that technology has given humans the opportunity to record things that occur to them throughout their day. His argument attempts to prove that people are more aware of what is happening to them as well as being able to recount things that have happened in the past through what they have recorded. Technology has also given humans the ability to reach their full potential at a younger age which can be seen through the chess study.
In “Hal or Me” by Nicholas Carr, he begins talking about the benefits of technology and how it has affected his life. By having access to the internet, he is able to do research quicker than he was able to do prior to the availability and popularity of the internet. Despite the advantages, he moves on to talk about the threat that technology poses. People who were once big readers are not now a days and even the combination of research of medicine has started to alter mental habits.
The use of technology has not only affected children, but has decreased the amount of students who read books. A teacher admitted to not being able to get her students to read a full book anymore despite them being literature or English majors. Technology has even impacted ivy league colleges which may come as a shock to many.
Carr’s writing took a different approach than Thompson’s did. Instead of focusing on the positive things that come from technology, his article talked about the negative effects. At the start, he talks about how great technology was in helping him with his work as well as saving him gas money. Despite providing a quick way to look things up, technology is basically teaching kids to take the shortcut. Sometimes in life you have to go the full mile to receive the results you want and perhaps technology is encouraging people to take the easy way out of things.
