Proposal on the Effects of Technology
Background/Set Up:
Technology has increased the standard way of living, which gives one the ability to complete his or her job with greater ease. In the modern world today people are surrounded by technology every second of their lives. Technology is used everywhere and all the time, while one is sleeping or resting. It has brought advancements in agriculture, engineering and transportation. Most importantly it has created more employment opportunities by helping businesses grow. The use of technology has also boosted research in fields ranging from genetics to extraterrestrial space. Technology has changed every part of living; be it in medicine, tourism, education or even in entertainment. “Technology has touched every aspect of life, making it easier, better and different”(Oak, pg 1). Technology has many advantages, but it also has many disadvantages. For example, too much exposure to technology can reshape one’s personality by making him or her more impatient, impulsive and forgetful. Also according to Erik Brynjolfsso, a professor at MIT, technology can be the cause for unemployment in the next few years. Brynjolfsso has been arguing for the last year and a half that, “these powerful new technologies are increasingly adopted not only in manufacturing, clerical, and retail work but in professions such as law, financial services, education, and medicine” (Rotman, pg 1)
Objectives of Research
I want to learn more about how technology can change the way people think and behave. Is technology that useful? How has technology improved over the past hundred years? As the professor from MIT mentioned can technology be the cause for unemployment in the next few years? What effects does technology have on the human brain? I would like to read articles related to the effects of technology from both sides of the argument. In order to do this, I can watch documentaries or movies about future creation, like a flying car or about robots that take over the human world. Are people really addicted to something called technology? Do scientists really compare this addiction to gambling? Can people moderate what they are using each day of their lives? Did they feel like the world is going to end when they could not use their cell phones or a laptops?
Research Plan and Scope I was planning on to read current news articles about technology because it is always a key factor in our lifestyles today. For example, in an article from the New York Times, “An Ugly Toll of Technology: Impatience and forgetfulness,” the writer, Tara Parker-Pope, explores different aspects of how technology is affecting us as people. She says that we are becoming more impatient, impulsive and forgetful. Tara explores the facts about how people are so addicted to technology that some scientists and psychologist referred to it as a drug. Additionally, she also mentions someone named