There Will Come Soft Rains: Is Technology Helpful Or A Menace?

Technology Helpful or a Menace?

Christian Lous Lange once said, “Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” In the 1950’s technology was just pieces of machinery that made doing task simplier. That was until the Cold War. The U.S dropped a bomb in the ocean in Hiroshima, Japan. It killed thousands and injured many. The U.S misused the power of technology. In the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, he writes about a house that is filled with machinery that can do everything from cleaning, cooking, etc. In the end the house is destroyed by a fire that comes from a fallen tree branch. The house is left crying out in terror and is destroyed. Technology has harmed society because even the most wonderful technology

has unintended consequences.

Automation is insignificant to humanity and it is seen in Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains”.

In the text “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury it states, “The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffing, its eyes turned to fire. It ran wildly in circles, biting at its tail, spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for an hour” (paragraph 22). This signifies that the house didn’t take care of the dog so it died from hunger and went insane. Therefore this shows that technology has hurt society because the house was too caught up with the other events it didn't take care of the dog. Additionally in the text “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury it states, “The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat, its wire, its nerves, revealed as if a surgeon had torn the skin off to let the red veins and capillaries quiver in the scalded air. “Help, help! Fire! Run, run!” Heat snapped mirrors like the brittle winter ice. And the voices wailed, “Fire, fire, run, run,” like a tragic nursery rhyme, a dozen voices, high, low, like children dying in a forest, alone, alone. And the voices fading as the wires popped their sheathings like hot chestnuts. One, two, three, four, five voices died” (paragraph 55). This expresses that despite all the amazing things the house could do it was destroyed. Consequently this shows how technology has harmed society because the house was highly advanced and intelligent but it

couldn’t save itself. As a result electronics are harmful to society because it is being brought into our everyday lives with us believing it will help us in a time of need.

However there are people who believe that telecommunications are advantageous to the general public.

For instance in the article, “How Technology Helps Us In Our Daily Lives” By Amy Williams she states,“Cell phones allow families to text updates on activities, practices, and even grocery lists. Do you remember how hard it was to organize schedules without cell phones?” This conveys that families are organizing all their group activities on their cell phones. In other words technology has helped society because now it is easier to remember what you had planned and prevents you from forgetting. Another example is in the article, “Five ways Technology has Improved Society” by an anonymous teenager it states, “Another way that technology has helped society progress is through text talk. It helps cut down on time you talk and write/type. Here is a scenario to help you see this concept: "omg did u like C becca's outfit

2day?!"

"omg i no!"

"she was like totly checking josh out 2!"

"gr8 im gonna hv 2 listen 2 him complain 2night on our date. she needs to gal!"

"haha g1."

"well i g2g cwyl!"

"yup lylas!"

"yeah lylas <3"

See? When you use this new language of text talk, you can cut out an average of 1 second for each word or phrase you transfer to text talk. So, in the 7th line of Bertha and Ethel's conversation via cell phone, Ethel cut out a whole 2 seconds of typing time! That is pretty amazing if you ask me! Also, with text talk you learn the proper way to misspell words (that's what you're supposed to do anyway).” This indicates that teenagers have found a new way of how to get straight to the point when messaging each other. To be specific technology has been crucial to society because it provides teenagers with fun ways to communicate with each other. In the end people will see how worthless it is to plan everything out on your device. Get out a pen and markers and write it down on actual paper. Texting with slang will only lead to horrible grammar and spelling errors in our nation's writing.

Technology has been toxic to our generation because even the most wonderful automation has unintended consequences. In the text "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury it shows how electronics are being misused and abused. It's time that we all stop depending on technology for everything. Someday it will get to the point where we don't even want to do the simplest thing like walking.