The influence of technology

[karthik_king]

Lets face it, technology is a major factor in this world. You see people with their cell phones and laptops and various other things. But do you view this as a bad thing?

For example my teacher says that ipods and computers and TV's will make you go stupid and you should just go back to the way the world should be. Paper and pen in hand walking along and talking. While I don't view her opinion as false, I do think that my side of the story is better.

Technology makes the world a nice small place. You can talk with people around the world. You can go around the word quickly. You have information at your fingertips and honestly this is what makes the world what it is. Without it I do not know what we would do. We would not be able to enjoy these great debates nor any of the other things we enjoy because of modern day technology.

What is your view on this matter?

 

[Vorguen]

Technology has become a necessity not an improvement. And with great power comes great responsibility. Technology gave rise to the A-bomb.

 

[Gaara♥]

Without computers and technology we would be doomed.
Completely depending on computers and technology will hurt us in the long run.
Sounds like a sad lose-lose situation.

 

[Wrath`]

As long as Computer/robots don't take over the world, we will be fine

I say technology has helped us to hurt us on a 7:3 ratio, The only way It hurst us is when we use it to do stupid things, like mow our lawn, or lack our doors ou sit on you a$$, I mean we still need to do human things, but as karthik said, it's nice to be able to have In life friends and online friends.

 

[ArcPoint]

The impact technology has had on the world is massive. But like all major advances, they can both help and hurt us. For example, nuclear fission: It can be used in order to kill thousands, or used as an efficient (albeit radioactive) form of energy.

Also, Koarin, where on earth did you pull that number from?

One thing technology also does force people to create new systems in order to adapt, new laws made. For example, who would have thought you could hack into someone else's website and steal whatever information they wanted? So it's had positive and negative results, but overall I'd say that it improved the (standard) quality of life. Which is what we always aim for.

 

[Wrath`]

The impact technology has had on the world is massive. But like all major advances, they can both help and hurt us. For example, nuclear fission: It can be used in order to kill thousands, or used as an efficient (albeit radioactive) form of energy.

Also, Koarin, where on earth did you pull that number from?

One thing technology also does force people to create new systems in order to adapt, new laws made. For example, who would have thought you could hack into someone else's website and steal whatever information they wanted? So it's had positive and negative results, but overall I'd say that it improved the (standard) quality of life. Which is what we always aim for.

The number was an opinion i formed on how i thought it helped/hurt us, thats all

 

[Watchful_Eye]

Generally, Technology just increases the possibility of things humans can do. As long we deal responsibly with our new abilities, I see it as something primarily positive. Weapons dont kill people,...

 

[Fire!]

Generally, Technology just increases the possibility of things humans can do. As long we deal responsibly with our new abilities, I see it as something primarily positive. Weapons dont kill people,...

Agreed.

I don’t think that we can survive without technology because…well… we don’t want to. We as humans are full of curiosity and we like technology because it helps us “light up the dark corners” of the world around us.

Before the introduction of the digital age we thought that we knew everything. When we did enter the digital age we found out that there was so much more to be learned and to some, that seems scary. Your teacher (I’m only guessing here) may not like technology because she is afraid of the negative effects it could bring.

Overall, I do think that technology has had a positive effect on the world because it has opened up so many new possibilities for us to explore (*one of which, I have been studying recently) we just have to sort out the good and the bad.



*This was what I was talking about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project

 

[FastFox]

Instead of looking at the impact of technology on a world scale, try looking at the effect of technology on the standard household, or the parent/child relationship.

It can be legitimately argued that many parents nowadays are feeling as though the use of cell phones, computers, and videogames are taking over their child's life.

I'd like to see what you guys think about this.

 

[Fire!]

Well first there’s the simple fact that by relying on technology too much, kids will become lazy and not even bother going out and explore the world around them.

I think that parents feel that technology is taking over their children’s life because technology makes life easier. Parents want their kids to go through some of the hardships that they experienced so they can learn the same lessons and become better people that way. Being it so easy for information to be accessed and absorbed, it would be like being spoon-fed on how to live your life.

Parents also want to be in complete control of what their child is exposed to and how they will grow up to be. With so much information being circulated on a daily basis, it can be hard for a child to determine what is right and wrong. Someone could be posting lies about the world with no proof, but the child would take that as truth and that is what they would believe the rest of their life.

 

[ArcPoint]

Instead of looking at the impact of technology on a world scale, try looking at the effect of technology on the standard household, or the parent/child relationship.

It can be legitimately argued that many parents nowadays are feeling as though the use of cell phones, computers, and videogames are taking over their child's life.

I'd like to see what you guys think about this.

The parents still have control over these things though. Parents don't HAVE to pay for a computer for their children, they don't HAVE to buy a game console, they don't HAVE to buy a cell phone. It's their choice. If these items are taking over their child's life, and they don't want it to, all the parents have to do is remove it.

 

[Fire!]

The parents still have control over these things though. Parents don't HAVE to pay for a computer for their children, they don't HAVE to buy a game console, they don't HAVE to buy a cell phone. It's their choice. If these items are taking over their child's life, and they don't want it to, all the parents have to do is remove it.

Are you really gonna disallow a child to not use a computer/game system/cell phone in this day and age? All that would do is peak the childs curiosity and make them want to use them more. And this doesn’t apply just to computers/game systems/ cell phones; this applies to television as well.

It’s better to teach a child not to rely on technology rather then remove it from their lives.

 

[ArcPoint]

I'm saying the parents have the capability, I'm not saying it's recommended...

 

[Fire!]

I just don't think parents have as much capability as you claim they have. Obeying their parents or not, the child is still human and will eventually be exposed to computers/cell phones/video games.

Removing these items only delays the inevitable.

 

[FastFox]

Edited for not reading.

 

[:mad:]

FastFox speaks the truth. That covers most of this argument.

In my opinion, this is a bad thing. It's becoming exactly like a familiar movie, the Terminator. They already have artificial intelligence, even a super-computer that can beat the world's greatest chess master. And it's only becoming smarter. Fact of the matter is, technology is evolving faster than humans. The people that are in charge nowadays just aren't that smart, and our entire world is becoming consumed by technology. I'm not saying technology is a bad thing, but it sure isn't something we absolutely need. It would be a lie to say that I hate technology. I love it, just not what it's turning in to.

 

[Fire!]

When you say "hardships" I am assuming you're talking about social hardships, and that being said, observe any 14 year old girl. She'll text message all day, gossip, etc. all via the use of a cell phone. Now, say for instance that this girl is having boy troubles (lol), and recieves news via text message that this boy doesn't like her and thinks she's fat. In turn, she begins crying, and seeks moral support through the use of text messaging one of her friends.

Is that not a social hardship? Perhaps it's a bit trivial, however its a prime example of the things kids go through these days.


About what you're saying about posting lies; for one, kids may believe whatever they're told, however that's only for a short period of time, or before the child decides otherwise. Yes, I believed there were monsters in my closet when I was 7. Why? Because my older cousins told me so. When I turned 9, I stopped worrying about it and totally doubted their existence. I don't still believe there are monsters in there. Information posted on the internet is all subject to individual interpretation, just like any other form of media. If there's an online newspaper article that says, "GIANT SQUID DESTROYS BOAT AND IS ON A RAMPAGE" and the article has no photo, you can choose to either believe it simply because it's a news article and the news must not be lying to you, or you can say, "Hey, that's BS. If there's no solid proof why should I believe this?". Basically what I'm trying to say is, kids aren't idiots in the least. The growing and developing brain is an amazing thing, and to say that they might read something on the internet and believe it for the rest of their lives is clearly false.

I do agree that the example with the 14 year old girl being called fat is a good example of a social hardship though technology, but usually parents want their children to learn those hardships the old fashioned way, aka the way they learned it. Technology makes everything easier. , Using a microwave to cook food isn’t the same as cooking food from scrap. It may be the same type of hardship, but in the eyes of a parent who want to raise their child right, teaching it the way they were taught seems like the best answer. Having a friend tell a 14 year old girl that a boy thinks she’s fat and letting her find moral support happening face to face is very different from sending a text, not seeing her reaction and waiting for a response, if the girl even chooses to do so. Maybe “hardships” was a bad choice of word. “Life skills” seems to better convey my thoughts.

The argument I was making was more on a slightly lesser scale then what you present. The kind of lies I was talking about are the kinds that you would read in celebrity tabloids. Not exactly celebrity tabloids but those which contain half-truths. Me saying that a child might read something and believe it for the rest of their lives was more of an example of how a child can still be molded to the person they will grow up to be. A child can be molded to believe that the world began with a “big bang” or that a group a deities created the universe. Some people could argue that it’s not true and some could argue that it is, but that’s what that person will probably believe for the rest of their life. That’s why there are so many different religions in this world.

 

[FastFox]

Can you not read topics?

 

[Archaic]

I hope I'm getting the right message by assuming that Crimson Kings edit means that this was going off topic, so I'm going to go back to what FastFox was saying before about how technology influences a small scale household. Specifically this :

It can be legitimately argued that many parents nowadays are feeling as though the use of cell phones, computers, and video games are taking over their child's life.

I'm going to tell you guys what I've been arguing with friends for years, that if a parent believes that cellphones, computers, and video games are taking over their child's life, they could by all means be correct. But! What I've always felt on this is that it is all centered around personal responsibility and attitude. If, say, a teenager were to play Team Fortress 2 for weeks straight and only stop to go to school and to eat, could you say that it was taking over his life? Probably. But if his grades are decent and hes not getting into trouble, should you hold that against him? Of course not. When the time comes for him to move out to work and live on his own, if he slacks and plays Team Fortress 2, flunks out, and gets fired that's not the games fault, that's his, and possibly his parents fault. It is their responsibility to teach core values such as, say, responsibility. If they cant be sure that their child has had those values ingrained into them they shouldn't be allowing their child to play such things.

In regards to computers and cellphones (and still video games I suppose), we had a discussion in my psychology class on people with addictive personalities. If you are someone who texts constantly or constantly browses the web, it's not necessarily the web or the phone's fault. You just had a tendency towards such things and as such, that tendency manifested itself in the way of web browsing or texting. I know drugs are a bad example, but take someone addicted to heroin. What if heroin had never existed? That same person would probably be addicted to crack instead. It would happen anyway, its just a matter of how it happens.

Sorry for the big blocks of text, hope you guys take the time to read and argue!

 

[RazeveX]

Anyone that simply doesn't want to use technology doesn't know what technology is.

Pens and pencils are technology. Spades and clubs are technology.

Really, where does it stop and start? What technology is good and bad? Why?

 

[karthik_king]

Yes I am very well aware that Technology is using resources to help further mankind. But without modern technology the world would would seem a lot larger and we could no longer have the same liberties that we have today

 

[Fire!]

I seem to be on a roll on this topic so I guess I’ll keep going.

There is no concrete definition for when technology starts and stops because technology runs parallel to humans. Everything we use today is a result of us constructing or discovering these “items” and using them for our own gain. Therefore, anything around us could be considered technology. But as our race moves forward, more and more things are being constructed/discovered. We now have to sort out what, to us, is considered technology.

 

[Mr. Rogu]

Technology is a good thing when it either benefits you or helps the world somehow. But technology can be bad when it hurts you. Like a predator on myspace or someone getting your e-mail address and sending you all these spam mail with tons of virusus on them. Then technology is a problem.

The world today could not function without technology or electricity for that matter. With all the stuff we do now, it seems impossible to even imagine our lives without technology. People are so dependent on cell phones, mp3 players, video games, and the media that they wouldnt know what to do without it (including me for that matter.)