Trey Smith
Prof. Kane
ENGW 1101
5 December 2014
Has Technology Corrupted Society or Uplifted Us All?
Technology has evolved in tremendous ways throughout the years since it first came about. It has become a part of the daily lives of most, but some more than others. The culture of technology has changed so much that today people can, at the push of a button, parallel park their car, change the television station from their cell phone, or even talk to and see a person even if that person lives thousands of miles away. Technology has been a huge benefit to mankind, it has allowed a lot of tasks to be done more efficiently. Yes, technology has been a major plus in this day in age; however, it has hindered many from forging a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. Technology over the years has taken people away from reality and placed them in to a world of electronics, hindered to ability to forge a formal conversation, and has made people become more dependent on technology rather than their own mind. Has this happened to everyone, no, but it has taken place, and it is time for society to come back to reality.
Seeing how over time, technology has become very popular in society is exciting, but at the same time a scary thing and a fear for some people. As a society, we went from black and white television to three-dimensional television. Different parts of the world, and different people have adapted to technology more than others, and some have overly adapted. For some, technology has taken the place of friends, intimate partners, jobs, and for some people, major parts of their daily lives. Today’s society is built on the constant growth and change of technology, people have taken themselves out of reality and have place themselves and are living in a world of technology and electronics. Technology has taken some people of reality and placed them in what some people may see it as, a “Virtual World.” Nowadays, when I sit in a classroom with my peers, it is very rare to see one of them go more than five minutes without checking their phones or pulling up Facebook or twitter on their laptops while class is in session. They are so engulfed in whatever the screen in front of their face is saying, they are losing out on pieces of information that would broaden their horizon and fill them with knowledgeable information. It is ok for people to check their phone or Facebook messages every now and then, but every five minute is ridiculous, especially when people are missing out on something that give them a better understanding of things that can benefit them in the long run.
People do not understand that these electronic devices have put us in a sleep state; our electronic devices have made us very inactive and unalert, much like sleeping does to a person. Technology has taken us away from the essential things in life and has us “sleep” within technology. According to Thoreau, we must open our own eyes and awaken ourselves from the things that blind us from seeing the way the world is, much like technology has hindered us from thinking on our own and to see what life has to offer. Thoreau expresses, “We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of dawn… It is something to be able to paint a particular picture or to carve a statue; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look...” (Thoreau 638). In other words, we must keep our minds and eyes open to what the worlds has to offer, we are far more creative than what we think we are. We do not have to rely on technology for everything that we do, if we just take the time to use our own minds we can paint a far better picture within the world than we can with a cell phone or with Facebook. Some may think this is not really a concern, but it has affected the way society interacts with each other and understand what the world us has to offer. In this