Technology: A Foe Cloaked as Friend

Although having technology is like having the world at one’s fingertips, many become reliant on it and lose the simplest of skills. Not to mention, kids are glued to the devices 24/7 for entertainment, and they and the adults rely on its judgment and knowledge. The amount of time that gets put on devices can not be good for their health as well. Also, technology can also give people the ability to create something great, or something that can ultimately harm them or others. Despite all of the devices good intentions, it does not solve more problems, it creates new ones. Because technology distracts kids, affects health, is to trusting for people, and gives them to much power, we should consider it a foe rather than a friend.

It may be

hard to imagine a world without smartphones and computers because the world today is so dependent on them, but how much has all this technology really helped?

The article, “Better Off” by Eric Brende expresses how technology has taken over and everybody would be ‘better off’

without it. He communicates how this generation of kids is stuck in the middle of the technology era because they are constantly on devices instead of being active outside. “In my grade-school years, the neighborhood seemed alive with children out in the street playing stickball and hide-and-seek. But the older I grew, the more deserted the street became”(6). The kids today are so invested in watching television, keeping up with social media, and passing time with app games, that they lose the best parts of being a kid. They lose the desire for adventure in the outside streets of their neighborhood, they lose the rush of racing bikes up and down the streets, they lose the imagination of pretending to be a pirate or a fairy princess. Now, some of that stuff is considered “lame”, and since today’s society wants everyone's approval, they follow the crowd instead of walking the road less traveled.
Not only is it affecting kids, but also health. People are not making time to exercise daily because that time goes to the devices. Sleep is also suffering because many people stay up late on electronics either playing games, watching T.V., or scrolling through various social medias. These are a few reasons regarding physical health, but emotional is affected, too. As petty as it might sound to some, people worry about how many likes their pictures get, how many followers/friends they have, and if they don’t have many of either, it can hurt their emotional stability. Also, the Internet is an entirely new place to bully someone cowardly behind a screen. There was once a time (the 19th century) when people did not like technology because they were worried about it taking over the world, and here in the 21st century, that’s exactly what happened.
In addition, to children and health, people put too much trust in technology. In the short story, “Liar!” by Isaac Asimov there is a robot named Herbie that can supposedly read minds, and the humans believe his words without any second thoughts. One prime example is the psychologist, Susan Calvin. Susan is a women that looks fairly aged and has never married; however, she does like a work colleague (Milton Ashe), but she thinks he would never like her because of her looks. Herbie, the robot, told Susan, “I see into minds you see...Milton Ashe’s thoughts of you--he loves you” (3-4). After the mind-reading robot told her the news she has always wanted to hear, she was very happy. When she was ready to confess her love to Milton, he told her about how excited he was to marry the love of his life (it was not Susan). She was instantly crushed and blamed Herbie for her broken heart, but after extensive thinking she remembered one of the three laws of robotics: A robot many not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm (1). If he were to tell her the truth about how Milton didn’t love her, she would have been harmed mentally, so he told her what she wanted to hear so he wouldn’t break one of the laws. Though Herbie lied to Susan, she is as equally to blame for her broken heart because she believed the robot without thinking for a minute he could be lying. She put full trust in his mind-reading capabilities and believed he would tell her the truth because he was a machine; she was focused on his title (mind reader), and wanted so badly for what he told her to be true.
Although technology can lead to scientific breakthroughs that can change the world, it can also lead to tragedies.

In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley a scientist named Victor Frankenstein creates a ‘monster’. He spent years trying to create life, and when he finally did it, he disowned the creature because of its hideous appearance. “I beheld the wretch--the miserable monster whom I had created” (43). The creature just wanted his creator's acceptance, but he shunned him. When the creature is on his own, he quickly learns that society doesn’t accept him because of his looks. After getting continually getting rejected despite his good deeds and intentions, he finally loses it and wants revenge on Victor for bringing him into this world. The monster kills everyone Victor cares for, leaving him with the pain and suffering. Victor was focused on the glory of his breakthrough: having a species look at him as a god, but he did not think of the consequences that followed. Just because he possessed the technology and had the capability to do something extraordinary, doesn’t mean he has to do it without extensive thinking. Victor’s creation lead him to his

downfall.
With the freedom from technology, people could enjoy a life filled with adventures, imagination, the ability to problem solve, and give them more time to do the important things: staying healthy and fit to live a jubilant and long life.