Consequences of Technology

Matt Unick
Prof. Rhone
11/15/12
ENG 101
Consequences of technology
The most significant event in history has been argued by many scholars through the years. The industrial revolution, the renaissance, or even the Neolithic revolution all have been the top choices. One event that doesn’t get as much attention is the event that is happening in the world today. The world is going through a technology surge unlike ever before. It is an increasing advancement in technology with every passing day; some might look back at it as a modern day renaissance. The increasing advancements of today’s world has the potential benefits of creating a perfect modern society of; no illness, easily accessible transportation, and maximum efficiency. The potential of technology in today’s world were unrealistic thoughts a few decades ago. Though the positives of technology can lead to extraordinary opportunities the reliance on it will be the destruction of humanity. The negative aspects of technological advancements includes the extinction of simple survival instincts, technology is gradually making humans dumber, and creating an unhealthy increase in human beings.
Technology is improving our everyday lifestyles and the efficiency of life itself, but relying on technology proves to be negative. The world has limited resources which means limited resources to fill our electricity. Without electricity most of the technology that is relied on will be useless. There will be no more ‘google it’ to provide information at any given moment. Simple activities used to survive hundreds of years ago are long forgotten. The processes of farming, hunting, gathering, finding natural medicine, and domesticating animals are now unknown to the common man. In Julia Davies article she discusses how dangerous it has become to rely on technology. “A year ago there was an explosion in Shrewsbury that knocked out the hospital 's power for several hours. Some of the electrical equipment did not work. The only people who did not panic were the older healthcare professionals because we were able to use 'Look, Listen, Feel ' and knew what was happening with our patients.” (Davies) She argues that professionals in the medical field don’t know how to take care of patients without the technology that’s given to them. Technology is extremely beneficial but Julia shows that relying on it proves it can be costly.
Evidence also shows that technology has also been making us dumber. Search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo have given us the power to grasp a world of information at any given moment. With the information at the tips of our fingers society as a whole should be moving towards a new stage of intellect; however it seems that the human mind is regressing.
Nicholas G. Carr, the writer of the article “Is Google making us stupider?” argues the effects of the internet. Carr states the short term memory is stronger than before, yet the long term memory is slowly getting worse. The capacity to concentrate is being weakened through regular internet usage. “The faster we surf across the Web—the more links we click and pages we view—the more opportunities Google and other companies gain to collect information about us and to feed us advertisements.” Carr argues that the internet’s goal is to get users to move from link to link because it creates more capital for the company through advertisements. “The last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.”(Carr) This proves that our attention span is getting worse because of greedy companies wanting people to move from site to site as fast as possible.
Using the internet has formed thinking differently and the thinking that’s used in how we use the internet is now being brought into society. Critical thinking has been forgotten, the internet has changed how the mind works. Information isn’t absorbed, analyzed, or applied it is used only when needed, slowly making the human race dumber.
Advancements in the medical field have increased within this technology surge era. The life expectancy for humans has changed a century ago from 50 years of age to around 76 years of age according to “Life expectancy by age, 1850-2004”. Research in the medical field only continues to grow; for example the field of cloning has the potential to discover the cures to diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and potentially more. (Human Cloning)
Technology proves to be beneficial for human life expectancy. However, the longer humans live the more populated the world gets, which is negative towards human health. Professor
Guillebaud argues in Steve Connors article “There is no way that a population of nine billion – the UN 's medium forecast for 2050 - can meet its energy needs without unacceptable damage to the planet and a great deal of human misery.”(Connor) Overpopulation is inevitable, it happens to every species. Unlike every species though, the human race has the power to control overpopulation. Increasing advancements in technology will only speed up the rate of overpopulation. In an overpopulated world water and other resources to survive will become scarce. Guillebaud also states “Unless we reduce the human population humanely through family planning, nature will do it for us through violence, epidemics or starvation."(Connor)
People will be struggling to survive and they will eventually turn to necessary means to prevail.
Technology isn’t going away, but limiting it can define our survival. This means to not misuse the advancements in society that are given. Technology has extraordinary potential to improve efficiency in the world. It has to be taken in consideration what advancements in technology would be positive and negative for the world. The way technology has been used and the way it continues to be used will be the reason for the destruction of humanity.

Work Cited.
Carr, Nicholas. “Is google making us stupid?” The Atlantic July/August 2008: Web. Nov. 12,
2012
Connor, Steve. “Overpopulation 'is main threat to planet '” The Independent Jan. 7, 2006: Web.
Nov. 24, 2012
David, Julia. “Over-reliance on technology is bad news for care.” Nursing Standard 25.3 Sep
22-Sep 28, 2010: Web. Nov. 12, 2012
“Human Cloning” Kiplinger Washington editors 80.1 Jan. 3, 2003: Web. Nov. 18, 2012
“Life Expectancy by Age, 1850–2004” Information Please. Pearson Education, Inc. 2007. Web.
Nov. 15, 2012

Cited: Carr, Nicholas. “Is google making us stupid?” The Atlantic July/August 2008: Web. Nov. 12, 2012 Connor, Steve. “Overpopulation 'is main threat to planet '” The Independent Jan. 7, 2006: Web. Nov. 24, 2012 David, Julia. “Over-reliance on technology is bad news for care.” Nursing Standard 25.3 Sep 22-Sep 28, 2010: Web. Nov. 12, 2012 “Human Cloning” Kiplinger Washington editors 80.1 Jan. 3, 2003: Web. Nov. 18, 2012 “Life Expectancy by Age, 1850–2004” Information Please. Pearson Education, Inc. 2007. Web. Nov. 15, 2012