The Negative and Positive Effects of Technology (Mostly the Negative)
There are at least two ways to avoid knowing ever truly knowing yourself.
One method involves staring at a computer screen for at least ten hours a day at work: because let’s face it, if you don’t put in the extra hours, you won’t get that promotion. An alternative way to avoid knowing yourself is to escape face-to-face conversation with strangers at coffee shops, restaurants, the sidewalk and other public areas — all you have to do is look at your smartphone.
Whether or not technology is changing us for the good or for the bad, I’m not certain.
I do know, however, there’s no need to memorize your friends’ birthdays: you can find them on Facebook. And you don’t have to worry about remembering anything from history class on World War II: that’s just a quick Google search away.
With every advancement in technology, there’s a change that takes place: there are both negative and positive consequences and anxieties. When my kindergarten teacher told my parents to buy a computer (the year was 1996), they were confused, wondering why my 5-year-old self needed to use a machine.
“Why do we have to buy a computer?” my parents asked. “Those are for offices.”
My teacher replied:
“In the near future, everyone will need to know how to use a computer.”
She was right, of course. My parents were hesitant, unsure of why I needed to use a computer at such a young age. Despite their anxiety and confusion, they bought the computer and learned how to use it. Soon after, our family computer became a necessity in our household.
While I can’t imagine going a day without hopping on the computer, there are consequences of technology, and those consequences are harmful to our society in hidden ways.
Dark Path
In a documentary series on Showtime called “Dark Net,” the disturbing side of the Internet is exposed. In one episode, a man is content with being in a virtual relationship. In another episode, a man is addicted to child pornography.
The problems are right in front of us, but we are blinded by the issues. Our view of social relationships are skewed because we talk more online or through text messages than in person. Facebook news feeds are catered to our interests.
There are organizations out there trying to get to know you who are online. Marketers, publishers, advertising agencies, data aggregators are among the groups who are tracking your online behavior. And advertisers target us with ads.
Technology has its positive and negative consequences. We can communicate instantly and Google our way out of a problem. When “implemented properly,” technology can help at-risk students be successful in the classroom and used for the overall wellbeing for humans across the world.
No More Memorizing, No More Thinking
The diminishing skill of memorizing information, just like the Facebook birthday example above, is only one way technology is changing how we think. The Internet affects our brain — it affects our ability to focus for long periods of time, argues writer Nicholas Carr. Because of the way we work, click and search, we are losing the ability to think deeply.
Carr argues that the Internet is a medium for constant interruption and distraction in his 2010 book, “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains.”
He writes, “We don’t see the forest when we search the web. We don’t even see the trees. We see twigs and leaves.”
The book is an expansion from Carr’s 2008 article published in the Atlantic, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” He writes, “Over the past few years I’ve had the uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory.”
Disconnect
An effort is being made to encourage people to disconnect from their devices in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. There’s a coffee shop opening in the neighborhood that will be free of an internet connection, and the use of smartphones will be “strong discouraged,” according to a DNAInfo Lincoln Park article.
The owner, Anne Kostiner, is making the effort to get people to talk to one another in-person.
“We have to create the culture because if we expect people to just change on their own without anyone taking action, it might not happen,” Kostiner said in the DNAInfo article.
Maybe Kostiner’s efforts will encourage the individuals of the Lincoln Park community to put away their phones more often.
I can’t help but be happy that one of our local businesses, here in Chicago, is making the effort to balance our use of technology.
