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Influence of technology in our daily life
A debate on the impact of technology in our everyday lives
The Influence Of Technology In Our Daily Lives
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Technology - a help or a hindrance to self-expression / creative thought?
In his book “Smarter Than You Can Think”, Clive Thompson analyzes changes that occur with human thinking and perception as a result of technological development, and explains why there are more positive effects than negative. According to Thomson, Internet creates an incredibly large number of texts. Every day people write 154 billion e-mails, more than 500 million tweets and more than a million blog posts (and 1.3 million comments) only on WordPress. On Facebook people post near sixteen billion words a day. And that is just in the United States: in China there are approximately 100 million updates a day just on Sina Weibo, the most popular micro blogging platform, and
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However, the reality of that era is not consistent with the same phenomena. The majority of surveys demonstrate that at the height of the popularity of paper letters in Britain at the end of the XIX century, before the phone became popular, the average citizen received a maximum of one letter every two weeks, and that is including many non-literary business messages such as requests to send money. In the US, the popularity of e-mail correspondence has increased dramatically since 1845, when the postal service began to lower the cost of sending personal letters, while the more mobile population created a need for communication over distances. Cheap-mail has become a new effective way of self-expression. Even though, as in the case of online correspondence, this method has an uneven distribution: fully participated in it a small part of the population, including some urban residents who send and receive letters every day (Bargh & McKenna …show more content…
When a person writes something online whether it’s a status in a single sentence, a comment on someone 's photo or post a thousand words, people are doing it, expecting that someone can read it, even if you write it anonymously. The presence of the audience makes writers to work precisely. Bloggers often tell stories about how they had an idea for a post and they sit down at the keyboard with excitement, ready to “throw out” the word inspired with an idea that someone else will be able to read the text as soon as it is published. Blogging allows them to reject the weak arguments, clichés and “lazy” automatic thinking. According to Gabriel Weinberg, blogging makes a person to write arguments and assumptions. Writing helps to make a transition between ideas in a head to the paper sheet where the writer faces a situation when he needs to defend his own position before himself. When a person keeps his idea in his own head, it does not have any value because it is easy to testify an argument inside of your own head. But when a writer meets a real auditory, he needs to express himself and prove his ideas. Sociologists call this an “audience effect”. This effect signifies a shift in people’s perception when we know that someone is watching us. It is not always positive. In the off-line situations such as sports or live music, the effect of the
Advancements in technology have strived to make life easier for so many people. In most cases, the advancements have achieved its goal, but in the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr questions if the improvements in society have unintentionally hindered our thought process overall. Carr begins the article by providing personal instances when his concentration seemed to diminish due to the internet. He explains how he now loses interest when reading lengthy portions, his mind just can’t seem to remain connected to his readings. He then proceeds to talk about how today’s life is surrounded by the internet, and explains the pros and cons of it. The negative side of it is that his mind now wonders off when seeking information from
It is a well-known fact that the Internet has become a central part of society, and it has completely changed every aspect of life for the human race, whether it is for better or worse. Nicholas Carr explains his thoughts on how the Internet has changed how people think in his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” He believes that the human race is losing its ability to think deeply and is creating a distraction culture, and that companies like Google are working to increase this way of thinking. However, the issue of how the human brain is changing with the Internet is very complex, and the answer to this question goes beyond a simple yes or no.
Although the book focuses primarily on one communication technology, the principles and examples are applicable to a much broader range of media. The author spends considerable time describing the social mores of the American people and the resulting cultural metamorphosis that appears to have occurred because of the technological changes. He begins with a quote issued by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), “The telephone is essentially democratic; it carries the voice of the child and the grown-up with equal speed and directness…It is not only the implement of the individual, but it fulfills the needs of all the people (Fischer, 1992).” If we substitute the word posting for telephone, you can see how this concept applies to a much broader technological and temporal field. Similarly, published in 1881, just 35 years earlier, in an article about the telegraph, the journal Scientific American, stated, “(it) promoted a kinship of humanity (Fischer, 1992).” Again, by applying that same concept to the general act of posting reveals the relationship between early iconography and modern social media posts and it becomes clear that the “specific devices” are less important than the need for recognition and subsequent act of communication in and of
Humans are becoming more technologically-efficient every day. New inventions and innovations are constantly being made. The Internet is becoming more “reliable” every day. However, how much do we really get from the constant advancement of Internet use and smarter technology? Should we look at their contributions to the world as a benefactor or a curse? The common effect of “artificial intelligence” in the technology we use every day is examined by two brilliant authors, Nicholas Carr and Jamias Cascio. In Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, he explains the effects of the Internet and technology in our society and claims that the overuse of technology is dangerous and can affect how our mind operates. Jamias Cascio, on the other hand, uses his article “Get Smarter” to show the positive effects of technology in our constantly adaptive society claims that technology may just be making our society smarter and more efficient. While Carr and Cascio both use the claim of cause in their articles to provide valid points on how technology affects our society, Carr’s article proves to be more effective because it focuses on skeptical-based evidence and uses a variety of appeals and proofs.
People all around agree that technology is changing how we think, but is it changing us for the better? Clive Thompson definitely thinks so and this book is his collection of why that is. As an avid fiction reader I wasn’t sure this book would captivate me, but the 352 pages seemingly flew past me. The book is a whirlwind of interesting ideas, captivating people, and fascinating thoughts on how technology is changing how we work and think.
First Carr tells us about Friedrich Nietzsche, “His vision was failing, and keeping his eyes focused on a page had become exhausting and painful...The typewriter rescued him.” (Carr 318). Carr claims that the typewriter changed his writing style, but having a slightly different style does not take away from the fact that Nietzsche can still put his ideas onto paper. If Nietzsche had not bought the typewriter then he would not be able to write anymore, so clearly any small downside of the typewriter is outweighed by the the typewriter allowing Nietzsche to continue writing. Carr also claims at one point that the internet uses “a style that puts ‘efficiency’ and ‘immediacy’ above all else” (Carr 317). Carr argues that the efficiency and immediacy of the internet limits our ability for deep reading. Thompson claims that “Every new tool shapes the way we think, as well as what we think about” (Thompson 348). Every tool humans have ever created has shaped our brains, so we should not be scared that the internet is changing the way that we think. Especially considering it is causing us to think and learn more
“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr and “How Computers Change the Way We Think” by Sherry Turkle are two articles that explore how technology influences our daily lives. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” discusses the effects of the internet in our society, how it is robbing us of our deep thoughts, memories and our ability to read books. Carr also talks about how the internet has become our primary source of getting information. The writer also discusses about how he’s having difficulty focusing on reading. “How Computers Change the Way We Think” is talking about how people don’t use their brains full potential capacity to solve problems. Instead, we depend on technology to do that for us.
Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid” and Sherry Turkle’s “How Computers Change the Way We Think” both discuss the influence of technology to their own understanding and perspective. The first work by Nicholas Carr is about the impact technology has on his mind. He is skeptical about the effect it could cause in the long term of it. He gives credible facts and studies done to prove his point. While Sherry Turkle’s work gives a broad idea of the impact of technology has caused through the years. She talks about the advances in technology and how it is changing how people communicate, learn and think. In both works “Is Google Making Us Stupid” and “How Computers Change the Way We Think” the authors present
He writes about how letter writing is the greatest and most intimate form of communication. At the end of chapter three, Henkin notes that the post office “brought together friends, family, and acquaintances who were physically separated”, but that it also ironically brought together “[strangers] into physical proximity” (90). Through this conclusion, Henkin is trying to prove that the post office brings all sorts of people together, and that the post office is universal. Comparing this with Sherry Turkle’s first statement, there are many differences with how people interacted two centuries ago compared to now. Unlike instant messaging and emailing, the old fashioned letter was used sparingly for special occasions. Henkin’s overall argument in his book is that this is what made the written letter the most effective method of communication. The people back then understood how innovative the mailing system was, and the people today take the Internet for granted. Unlike the postal network, which unified people with similar beliefs through the post office, the method of communication today divides people by isolating them from
It can be argued the use of technology affects our mind and makes people lazy. In society today many people do not endeavor to educate themselves and use their own knowledge as they resort to technology. We are therefore using technology more than our brain to learn new things, decreasing our understanding of learning new information. For example, today people at work are using technology to hold meetings online with other companies, resulting in a decrease of face-to-face interaction with people that can help individuals gain a greater understanding. People who used to live before us did not have the technology that we have, but they lived and discovered new things. They used their mind to comprehend things
From a positive perspective, computers provide us with vast amount of resources and information and as a species have made us much smarter. Individually, it has made us more knowledgeable because we can easily find the information we need, although, if the internet were to be taken away, we would become less smart. As the human race becomes more interconnected, it means we have more abilities and the internet has us all wired into one ‘super brain’ that is smarter than any individual. Another example of computing technology is ‘texting’. Humans can now communicate over long distances instantly and easily, but there is a common misconception that ‘texters’ are ‘dumbin...
Technology can be conveyed as a necessary evil in our life today. It’s considered necessary because it can save lives, and make them easier. Yet it’s considered evil because it can destroy lives on a physical and mental aspect. The true question is does the good outway the bad? ‘Technology is a word used to collectively describe or portray the advancements, abilities, creations, undertaking, views, and knowledge of the human-kind”(https://www.academia.edu/346486/Technological_Advancements_and_Its_Impact_on_Humanity). Therefore it basically means that it progresses the human race. It connects us, conserves energy and produces goods, and it saves lives. How could it not be a good thing?
Technology is the way which extends humans ability. It is very difficult to obtain a precise definition of technology. It is generally accepted that "technology" is more than just a collection of physical products of science. "Technology" is the link between society and its tools.
Technology has changed modern society drastically, both positively and negatively. Technology has influenced every aspect of our life, making it simpler but not necessarily better. Albert Einstein was concerned about the advancement of technology. "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction."1 Undoubtedly, what has changed the most are communication, the spread of information, and how business is practiced. Consequently, practically everyone knows how to use a computer, connect to the Internet, or use a smartphone. This is demonstrated by the way the Internet is used daily by millions of people to communicate, to sell, advertise, retrieve, and share information. Thanks to the Internet, information from anywhere in the world is at our fingertips. As a result, the advancement of technology has changed our life in many ways including; sharing of information, communication, business, education, social interaction, simplifying everyday tasks, replacing basic skills and jobs.
The internet has influenced, and is still influencing the way society communicates in many different ways. The rise of the internet has caused people to communicate differently in areas never dreamed of before the internet came into existence. Education has been revolutionized through the world of the “Information Super Highway”. Medicine has also seen reform as the internet improves research and communication. Individuals are starting businesses from scratch, while others are selling household items for extra cash. This internet “typhoon” sweeping the globe has become a way of life for many individuals all across the globe.