Technology can get out of control

Technology has replaced almost everything. It is omnipresent, in everything and is everywhere; in your house, your school, in your shower, your ceiling fans – in almost everything we do yet it goes by unnoticed and unappreciated. You cook on a stove, right? Warm something up in a microwave? You have hot and cold water taps. You drive or ride in a car, don’t you? Technology is all around us.
Technology has benefited us as humans in a number of ways, through the internet technology helps us access information easier and at a faster rate all in one place rather than using many books, however has this affected the amount of people who visit libraries? Technology allows us to visit other countries, other planets, through the means of trains, planes, cars, bus’ and rockets however it has also given us the power to destroy other countries with the use of nuclear power bombs.
How will we know when to stop? When will the human brain believe it has obtained enough information? Or will we live in an endless cycle where we constantly want to know more.
If we did take it as far as building Robots, would it benefit our world or hinder it? How many jobs do you think have been lost due to the development in technology? Yet we can argue that jobs have been created too. The truth is that people have now become a liability. People make mistakes, machines do not. People get tired and cranky, machines do not. People can be unreliable, machines are not. People have limitations, machines do not – they are limitless, can be expanded and expanded and there is no shortage of ideas, that one person, one day will not want to make a reality. In every field improvements are being made and replacing workers: as a machine is superior to any human effort is becoming more common. No human can compete with the relentless, accurate, speed of a robot. In the last few years, we have seen the invention and expansion of the internet, which many people turn, do banking, pay bills, to shop (however I do agree this is beneficial for the elderly who cannot always get themselves outside) and many other needs. Reducing the need for people to actually leave their homes decreases the need for there to be as many workers in the work place.
Another point to consider is the idea of how the internet is effecting our future generations, take porn, alcohol, drug industries; previously these had a much more limited influence, now they can be easily accessible through a simple click, the internet has also helped the development of bullying as now everything does not need to be said in person as cyber bullying exists on sites such as, formspring.
Has technology gone so far that it is destroying the use of the English language, or any language for that matter? Has access to sites, such as, facebook, tuenti, twitter, tumbler got us so used to text speak that we have created new words to replace older ones, or is this just a pure sign of how technology is making the human race lazy? People feel less need to talk to their friends anymore or to even go out and play because they can ‘watch tv’ or ‘go online’. Film’s such as, iRobot and Johnny 5, in their own way discourage the advancement of Robots believing that the humans could try so hard to make them humanlike that the need for humans would disappear completely, or that if we help technology along too much maybe one day technology itself will take over the human race. But has it already? Are we already too dependent on technology? I believe children especially have become their own sort of Robot, getting together in clumps, but the amount of actual conversation that goes on between them is minimal they just play on whatever technology they have.
However phones and internet do make it easier for us to contact one another regardless of what country you are in or how far away you are, which I would say has been a positive change to our society rather than negative, but once phones gained access to games and the internet that is perhaps when we went too far and have now created an irreversible situation where we feel dependent on this technology as part of our daily routine. With ‘smart phones’ it appears that all devices a human could need are found directly on it, such as, a satnav, a map, internet access, games, calculator, currency convertor etc. etc. This can be seen in an either positive or negative light: as all items can be found on one device there appear to be less need for humans to have each individual thing – which could save people a lot of money, however technology is always expanding so the need for ‘the latest thing’ with ‘even more’ gadgets in it is always on demand.
We cannot say that all technological developments have been bad, technology led to Thomas Edison creating the first light bulb allowing humans to see more clearly for a more lengthy amount of time, taking another viewpoint this is not to say that this was the best way forward for humans. Species since the dawn of time have been known to adapt to their surroundings, so who is to say that if the creation of light had not been invented our eyes would not have adapted so that humans could see clearly in the dark. Have we by continuous inventing backtracked the nature of human survival? Would we be able to cope if we lost power completely?
Recently I have been watching a new series on television where they do actually lose all forms of power and technology. To me it shows how we have as the human race become too dependent on technology and how dangerous this is, this series shows that without technology there will be revolution, there will be a lack of trust within people, food would become short and it is all becomes quite worrying that we feel we cannot survive peacefully without these devices.
Saying this, devices such as, fridges (the preservation of food) and the use of technology for medicine, and education shows very important side to the advances we have made over the years, as I am aware that technology is needed in research to cure diseases.
Nevertheless I honestly believe that we have become overly dependent on technology, and that it is, in effect, isolating us from one another. Many would state that technology has improved our lives yet more and more people seem to be relying on the internet increasing isolation because of a false sense of connection due to the social media. If we did have a major black out or crisis it would be interesting to see how the world would actually cope.
We as students are beginning to rely on spell check, calculators and computers for our homework. Schools have even joined in on this ‘advancement’, instead of just reading books for assignments we are asked to watch the movie as well to ‘help’ us learn.
It is evident that technology is leading to a lack of exercise, kids are becoming fat and lazy, forgetting good manners when asked to do something but most of all throwing a tantrum when asked to get off their device. It is making us moodier and in some cases even dumber. It’s destroying us, and making us undependable people; kids and adults.
This is not living. To live is to explore the world around us. To live is to take risks and do something dangerous. To live is to go outside and run around in your sprinklers. To live is to stand outside your lover’s window whilst throwing rocks at it. To live is to go out with your friends and actually shop. To live is to splurge on little things like diner at a fancy restaurant.
This world, the world we ‘live’ in… This is not living. Turn off your device and Go Outside.