“Technology ... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it.”
Max Frisch, Homo Faber 1957.
It has been more than 50 years from the publication of Max Frisch's book but these words nowadays are more actual than ever.
The virtual and technological reality has become a pillar of the actual society. It surround us and is involved in many aspect of our lives.
The new technological gadgets have the aim to make our lives easier and faster and most of them combine many different tools into one unique device: smartphones and tablet allow us to keep in touch with our friends and family and, at the same time, to access our email, check social networks and use our favourite apps. In addition, they are often used like personal assistant, tourist guide or personal trainer so they technically replace physical people.
The great accessibility of these tools has resulted in the significant increment of people who have become overly dependent on technology but only in the last years this relatively new addiction have started to be considered for what it really is.
In fact it affect at the same time health and all the social life aspects of people but it is still a topic basically hidden from spotlight.
Dr. Kimberly Young, psychologist and an internationally known expert on Internet
dependence , founded the first inpatient clinic for internet addiction recovery at the
Bradford Regional Medical Center in 2013. In her book “Internet Addiction: A
Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment” (John Wiley & Sons Inc 4 October 2010)
she defines technology addiction as a habitual compulsion to engage in using technology
instead of addressing life’s problems. (http://everydaylife.globalpost.com ...
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...cation and the pleasure of sharing something
more than simple information.
New technology has certainly brought a lot of good in people's lives and have often proven to
be not only tools, but also resources for a better future. However, we should remember that if
our digital devices are taking up too much of our life, it is certainly better to switch them off
and reflect on the relationship that we have with them.
According to Young, less than 5 percent of people suffer from a technology addiction but she
suggests to focus on developing healthy ways to incorporate technology into our life.
As is true for other addictions, prevention is better than cure and information and awareness
are the main means of prevention.
Each of us has the responsibility to evaluate and modify these aspects, not only about our own
lives but also about people around us.
If we were to take a look around, there is not a doubt that we will at least see one person with a phone in his or her hand. Smart phones, tablets, computers and televisions are a staple in most common households today. As technology becomes smarter, it is noticeable that people are becoming increasingly lazier. According to a survey conducted by the Department of Labor in 2012, watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time, about 2.8 hours a day (“American Time Use Survey Summary”). This means people are spending more time in front of their televisions than they are any other activities in their free time. Technology is the number one thing people turn to, whether it is for entertainment or for functional use. People are relying on technology devices more than they should be.
do we hear it from other people ?, see it on the news ?. The justification of
My entire life revolves around technology, so to just stop using it all it would destroy my life. I think my dependence on technology has affected my leisure a lot. I remember when I was a little kid, I would do nothing, but be outside with my friends, from morning till night. I think about when life seemed easy and simple. I don’t do that at all now.
Kershaw provides an example of the negative effect of Internet addiction in the article “Hooked on the Web: Help is on the Way”. Mike is a 34 year old man who addresses his Internet addiction problem and seeks treatment. Before seeking treatment, Mike struggled with alcohol and drug abuse and depression along with Internet addiction. He often spent countless hours using the computer to search news and sports information. He never felt it was a problem because he liked it so much and used it in his everyday life. However, Internet addiction started to impact Mike’s life. He became unemployed and lived with his mother. It also affected his social interaction; he would rather be on the computer than be around other people (Kershaw). Another case where computer addiction is found to be a problem is in some Asian countries. Elizabeth Cooney, in her article “Some People Need Help To Kick Their Internet and Computer Gaming Obsessions” reports that “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in girls and hostility in boys can predispose children to later Internet addiction, which they estimate affects 4 percent of children in Korea and 15 percent in China.” Furthermore, there have been reports of death due to Internet addiction as well. In Korea, a man died because he did not perform basic survival skills such as eating and sleeping for 50 hours due to his Internet addiction (Cooney). In the article “Computer
The internet is an essential tool in everyday life. The age of a person does not matter, because whether they are a teen, an adult, or an elderly person in order to stay in contact with others they will need the internet. However, the internet is dangerously addictive. Some studies say that the internet is not the addiction, but the means of getting to the addiction. The more believable of the two studies are the ones that discuss the internet being the addiction. Curtis stated in 2012 that reports on the brain are showing that people who excessively use the internet show abnormalities similar to people who suffer from substance addiction. Curtis also stated that internet addiction was becoming
Drug abuse has been a hot topic for our society due to how stimulants interfere with health, prosperity, and the lives of others in all nations. All drugs have the potential to be misapplied, whether obtained by prescription, over the counter, or illegally. Drug abuse is a despicable disease that affects many helpless people. Majority of those who are beset with this disease go untreated due to health insurance companies who neglect and discriminate this issue. As an outcome of missed opportunities of treatments, abusers become homeless, very ill, or even worst, death.
Technology, like everything, has its ups and downs, you know, the pros and the cons.Technology makes everything so much easier for everyone. We can travel long distances, talk to our loved ones, and even entertain us. Technology has also made things safer for us.There have been so many technological advances through recent history that were created to keep people safe and away from harm, like fire alarms and air bags in motor vehicles. Technology has also made things much faster for us, such as travel. Cars, Planes, and Boats help many people get to different places around the globe in shorter amounts of time, and the internet has also made
Social media although a great tool can become an addiction ultimately affecting our lives and state of mind. That is why we need to limit the amount of time and information we share on social networks. Although the internet is a tool full of good and bad available to everyone, teenagers and young adults are more prone to falling into the traps of the internet. People also abuse social media and overuse it every day because they are concerned with what is happening every hour. Social media is a tool not a necessity and should never be abused or used as a diary because it could result in unwanted consequences that can hurt us in the future.
According to The Huffington Post, people are on their devices for, on average, about eleven hours and fifty-two minutes a day. That is almost half a day and a lot longer than most people sleep or work. People have not yet realized how they or their families are being affected by this constant use of technology. As a result of technology increasing, children are experiencing health problems, school issues, and social problems. First and foremost, health problems due to the increase in technology usage is becoming a bigger issue than one might think.
Accessing the cyberspace is the first right should be granted in order to have privilege of and exercise the rest of the human rights on the internet. The internet has a very big impact in people’s life and what they have become today, especially with all the opportunities this medium provide for them to exercise their basic human rights. It has allowed the freedom of many voices to be heard in ways that was merely impossible before this revolution. Not only it has given people the rights to express and associate, but also the right to education as it allows to access many educational materials. In fact, accessing this virtual place has become a necessity to fulfill many other human rights including the right to work, and the right to take part in country’s government. Therefore, internet access should be a public right that ensure information and internet accessibility, usability, and availability for all people regardless of gender, place, and income.
For many years, people have suffered many devastations about addiction. It has become a common killer in the United States just like murder. Addiction has affected over 23 million people from the age 12 and older. These addictions are wide ranging, they can include alcohol, drugs, sex, video games, food, pornography, and gambling. People like to keep quite because they view this disease as morally wrong. Addicts sometimes shut out their family member because they are afraid of the reaction if anyone knew their problem. The Nation Institute of Drug Abuse states Addiction is as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.Today in 2016 addiction is spreading across
Raise your hand if you’re one of 44% of Americans that sleep next to their phones at every night. It’s true, so many of us are dependent on our mobile devices, that psychologists are now calling it the “Invisible Addiction”! Since its invention critics have debated every inch of the cell phone. From its usefulness and size, to its effects on health after prolonged usage. The conversation has since shifted. The cell phone market today is flooded with a plethora devices to choose from, sporting top of the line materials and industry leading software, but this just scratches the surface. With over 968 million worldwide smartphone sales in 2013, consumers are feeding into the latest technology that the market has to offer. Though they may become
also brings people with negative impact. We are living in a parallel world. When you are
Today there are many technological advancement to enhance our daily activities, whether it be as simple as an Ipod for entertainment purposes or as vital as an artificial heart for the survival of a human live, science and technology is the reason for its existence.
“This is not a simple proposition, since our devices have become more closely coupled to our sense of our bodies and increasingly feel like extensions of our minds” said Sherry Turkle. They are becoming part of us. Perhaps some people are saying technology causes laziness because we are relying more on devices instead of doing stuff by ourselves, but technology is intended to make our lives easier. We are still doing the same thing, but in a more effective way. Human race are moving on, we cannot stay in an era where people are still using paper maps to find out the way, sending letters through the post office.