Friday, May 9, 2014

What We Can Do To Salvage Our Future



Technology: The Catalyst For American Laziness
          Part Four:
          What We Can Do To Salvage Our Future         
Technology runs our lives and will ruin our future if this continues. How we can avoid this and why we should.
Technology is slowly, but surely taking over our lives. Everything in society is based off technology; everybody has smart phones and iPads. Everywhere you look you can see technology! It has direct, negative effects on our lives. Obesity and poor social skills are two big results from technological overuse. And I don’t think anybody wants to have either of those things. If our society doesn’t make a change together, we are in for a rough future. As a proud member of this country, I personally do not want to see this happen.
            If we continue on our gloomy path to technological self destruction, our world will be a shell of its former self. No longer do we receive joy from the simpler aspects of life, it takes a lot more to please us nowadays. With easy access to technology we don’t treasure the simple joys of life. James Surowiecki in , Technology And Happiness writes that in 2005 a poll was released about how happy people are. The percentage of people that said they were happy was slightly lower than in 1970s. Even though our country has made massive strides with technology, people find themselves less happy. The technological boom is not good for our country and people are slowly withdrawing into their houses and using technology to hide from the world. If we just continue to abuse all of our country’s technology, we could end up in a world where no one interacts with each other. At least not face to face. We will just be absorbed in our own lives and not care about anyone else. As technology gets more and more advanced, we will become emotionless and self-absorbed. We will turn into robots. Not actual, metal robots, but just people without purpose, without feelings.

            It is extremely clear that we need a change. We need to cut back on technology to appreciate our lives and prevent humanity from becoming depressed and empty. If you take a look at a group of people who don’t use technology and are still living on our Earth, it is easy to see some benefits of cutting back on technology. Yes, I am talking about the Amish. Now I am not suggesting we should take it to this extreme, but you can clearly see some benefits of their lifestyle. Suroiwecki also writes that the happiness levels of the Amish are consistently higher than the rest of Americans. They live without the technologies that we take for granted which leads to happier lives.  Albrecht Powell in Amish 101 - Amish Culture, Beliefs & Lifestyle writes that the Amish feel technology weakens the family structure and its bonds. They live in a close knit community and have very close and personal relationships with each other. I think that we will make huge strides within our society if we cut down our use of technology. Relationships will be much stronger because we won’t be so focused on technology and actually have real conversations with others.

            If technology continues to run our lives like it does today, soon it will completely take over. Job opportunities will decrease because technology is becoming so efficient that we don’t need as much manual labor. If we are not careful, technology will take away our jobs, and our lives. We have to stop this obsession with all these technological advancements. If we don’t use as much technology our eyes will open up again and we will begin to enjoy life as much as people enjoyed it 50 years ago.

           


Works Cited
"Amish 101 - Amish Culture, Beliefs & Lifestyle." About.com Pittsburgh. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. <http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/pennsylvania/a/amish_2.htm>.

“The Future of Technology and Its Impact on Our LivesBy Kunal Sinha, Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai” The Future of Technology and Its Impact on Our Lives by Kunal Sinha. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014. <http://www.wpp.com/wpp/marketing/digital/the-future-of-technology/>.


"Technology and Happiness | MIT Technology Review." MIT Technology Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014. <http://www.technologyreview.com/review/403558/technology-and-happiness/>.



1 comment:

  1. I'd just like to say that I think we are psychic twins. Your article is basically the exact paper I am writing right now LOL! It kind of makes me feel better that I'm not the only one that realizes we are not on the right path here. Also, yes, Wall-E, couldn't have said it better myself. Bravo!

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