Marique Cruz
Period 3
11/24/12
Cause and Effect The Change of Family and Friendship over Time Albert Einstein once said, “it has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” Technology has developed, evolved and changed over time and created a “magical,” positive influence throughout the globe; the excitement of what was new and unique is almost gone and now people view technology as normal, and utilize it to the point that people need technology like they need oxygen. Because of the powerful influence of technology, and society’s “addiction” to them, in a way it pulls away from the family and friendship dynamic, and becomes a factor to the slow fragmentation of these relationships.
Once, there were days that people ate at the family table together, or if someone wanted to talk with a friend, they could either call them, or physically walk to their friend’s house and talk face to face. Many times, when kids came home from school, their mother would already prepare them their meal and take the time to ask, “how is school today?.” Before the oncoming social networks, friends were the people who individuals met at school, work, traveling, gatherings and clubs. Letters or calling were the ways people communicated with each other to express great moments of life, emotions, days of sadness or even just to see how they are both doing. Back then, it may not have been perfect but certainly there was a certain warmth and deeper meaning to families and friendships.
There are many optimistic characteristics to having social media and technology and the positive influences they have on society. People during the early stages of trying to get used to all these new technological advancements were amazed and inspired. Indeed, Arthur C. Clarke, a science fiction writer, said that, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Now exceptional technology has become “mainstream,” and has become ingrained deeply in people’s lives. This has brought faraway places people have only heard of even closer, any information can be found with a click of a button and basically the whole world are in one’s hands. Technology can help bring people (for example family members or friends) who live in distant places or who are on business; they can now talk to each other in front of a computer screen. And technology has improve modes of transportation, now foreign, far lands that would’ve taken weeks or months, now take only hours, because of the advancement of technology.
With every good trait that has come, there is a bad, negative trait to balance it out; many innovative ideas and inventions have been utilized, but now there are adverse consequences and dangers borne because of the influence of technology, the saddest part being the rupture of the family and friendship. In reality, plenty of parents have work, jobs to go to, school, college and a variety of other reasons have come in before the dynamic of “family.” Many children turn to the internet, their phones, televisions or their MP3 players to fill in an empty void in their lives and at times, these alternate realities become their lives and the idea of