Technological Evolution: Boon or Bane for Society?

Technology has changed our society in numerous ways in terms of development and it has evolved immensely within the last couple of decades. Everything is becoming more compact, more capable, and more efficient. A simple text message allows us to have a full on conversation with others without even opening our mouths to speak. Apps such as Skype or Apple’s FaceTime allow users to connect ‘face-to-face’ with someone across the country or even across the world within seconds! These innovative and instant forms of communication no doubt allow us to connect in a quicker and more efficient way; however, in terms of ‘connect’ing as a society, one may begin to wonder if we are becoming too dependent on these devices. Are the new technologies that

One of the things that we most appreciate about modern technology is its speed (when it isn’t buffering for thirty minutes, of course). Texting, for example, is very fast and convenient when it is needed. Isn’t it a lot easier to shoot someone a text that they will surely see later on as opposed to waiting for someone to answer your calls or leaving voicemail messages (we all hate them) that no one ever checks? According to a survey I conducted for my research, 79% of my college peers use texting as their primary method of communication. It is very understandable that this is true due to a demanding and ever-so-busy college lifestyle, but we don’t realize that we become lazy and build impatience when we constantly strive for the easiest and quickest way to do things. We are much less likely to call someone and actually speak to them or visit them than we are to pick up the phone and send them a single line text. This reduces our chances to engage in face-to-face interactions in our society which also hinders us from building relationships and bonds. This is just one aspect that may be seen as taking away our ‘connection’ to one

Once again, our cell phones prevail. When you have Siri or Google Maps, why bother to waste your money on a real map, right? That’s just valuable time and money wasted when all you had to do was type in an address and go. As I mentioned before, this is obviously very convenient; however, how are we going to understand how to read a map in case of an emergency if we have never even looked at one before. In this sense, we don’t have to work as hard anymore to obtain the same results. Sure, that could be a good thing, but it also limits our physical and mental abilities and narrows our knowledge base. Additionally, returning to one of the former arguments, it limits a chance to bond and have a true face-to-face interaction. If you think about it, when you use a map for directions on a road trip, you don’t hold it and read it yourself if you’re the driver. The driver depends on the “passenger-seat driver” to tell him/ her the correct way to go. This also helps build solid teamwork skills that realistically cannot be obtained from the use of a GPS