TOO MUCH DEPENDENCE ON TECHNOLOGY: BOON OR BANE?

• Posted by Evert Chris Dimalanta January 28, 2014 - Filed in Technology - 1,059 views

  Change is inevitable. Our worsening addiction to technology is one change we tolerate.

   

  The generation of today is techno-savvy. Nowadays, technology constitutes the very foundations of our survival. Our modern-day human life is not complete without technology. Its most basic definition, which is the practical application of sets of knowledge, is no longer the seemingly accepted definition since technology is an all-encompassing area of human life. In today's modern concept, technology has turned into a complex social enterprise that involves almost all aspects of human interaction.

   

  Truth be told, we owe a lot to technology. While life seems complex and sophisticated now, technology has done a great deal to cope with the essentials of life easily by providing us means and methods to survive. In fact, most people have access now to basic goods and services that were once considered pure luxuries and mainly enjoyed by the affluent members of society. It provided us privileges to enjoy transportation, health care, entertainment, sanitation, communication, education, infrastructure, sanitation and other areas of life.

   

   

  Technology did not just provide the necessary tools for science, it also provided link, motivation and direction for further theory and research. The technologies that started out as mere guides for our existence has become a necessity for survival. People can now work, chat, travel and shop with friends from the comfort of their seats. You could hardly see people without cellphones, even a meek market vendor has it. Before, phones are used only to communicate. Now, cellphones are transmitters of voices, pictures, games and other applications as well. The social media grew at such a rapid rate with people associated with Facebook, Twitter, Friendsmoo and other interactive social media sites. A person’s view of the world is expanded because of the zero cost of communicating with people of other countries. A science fiction that has become life itself.

   

  Nonetheless, perhaps the beneficial uses of technology could be most found in the areas of education and health. The use of technology in teaching and learning is beyond debate. As borne out by school achievements, technology infuses classrooms with digital learning materials and tools, develops course curriculum and learning outcomes, increases student participation and motivation for success and accelerates learning growth. Technology was also able to transform and modernized teaching by introducing new models of connected teaching. Teaching has become personalized, thereby improving the level of understanding on the part of students. Transmission of knowledge has become a lot easier. There are also vast opportunities to learn online, thus, increasing educational productivity but reducing costs. While it may be true that technology is not a substitute for an inspiring teacher, online materials are far more readily available. Education, therefore, is everywhere and not just confined to the four corners of the classroom. Because the students can easily have access over the information they need over the web, the interactive simulations and illustrations found there leads to a much greater depth of understanding that a human teacher normally has a difficult way to provide. Learning has become more interesting for the students since the advent of PowerPoint presentations, digital videos and photography, web-based radio or TV station, music synthesizer, website making and blogging.

   

  Anent the area of health, perhaps the most interesting is the ability of technology to find modern and effective ways to treat ailments, illnesses and disabilities. Medical technological breakthroughs constantly seek new ways of improving the health of individuals. From the use ofwooden sticks to support and mend broken bones to the analysis of the human genome, technologyis at the very core of every aspect of medicine.Considerable efforts are now exerted to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, resulting in the invention of tools and methods used to save people’s lives.

   

  However, no matter how beneficial technology is, its advantages are glaring in plain sight. It is true that the use of technology is increasing everyday. Its impact in our lives is incomparable. It is very important to embrace technology as a way of life. But what if one day, all these products of technology stop working? If we depend too much on technology, we cannot cope up should it be gone or there is some technical glitch or mechanical breakdowns. Every transaction now is instant. Few people would only prefer the manual work. Little do we realize that not everything can be solved or provided by technology. There are some aspects of human nature that computers, gadgets and tools cannot provide. Computers cannot provide the sense of human touch and emotional connection that only humans can provide. While we can communicate with people, it is not as deep as talking to them in person. Elements of honesty and candidness become stale. If we rely on technology, our lives would be in chaos if they become absent or insufficient. As this modern world develops, relationships are far easy to forge. However, the level of togetherness is not as keen since everyone is busy with their lives, work and careers. Technology has filled this part. But the side effect is that technology has taken part that important aspect of human interaction which should have been personal in nature.

   

  Furthermore, human ingenuity which made possible the improvement of life has also made some burdens and allowed new kinds of risks in the environment we thrive in. As a classic example, the growth of agricultural technology has made possible to sustain a very large population but has put enormous strain on the soil, irrigation and water systems that are needed to ensure continuous production. Our medicines may cure illness but may continue to work only if we invent new ones, constantly adopting to rapidly increasing newer strains of diseases. Our access and use of fuels have made us dependent on nonrenewable fuel resources. Hence, to sustain our needs, we tend to exploit our natural resources, thus presenting potential threats and unacceptable hazards to the very earth that sustains us. Our mining activities and manufacturing strategies unfortunately dangerously pollute out rivers, oceans and other bodies of water as well as our atmosphere. The products of our industrialization gradually deplete the ozone layer which protects our atmosphere from further destruction. With the worsening effects of global warming, we tend to experience abnormal weather conditions brought about my misuse of technology. Likewise, technology has changed employment trends by replacing human labor with machines that are even operated or controlled by other machines. The number of workforce has decreased through the years since machines can do more than what humans can accomplish.

   

  All told, we should be mindful of the effects of too much dependency on technology vis-à-vis its beneficial uses. As technology rapidly advances, the biggest temptation to rely on it cannot be countenanced. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that we should not let technology completely run our lives. We still need to do the things for our own existence and survival so that even without these technological products, we can still thrive. It must be stressed that not everything is technologically-based. It is a must to adapt to this far-changing technological world. But, we should not allow it to control us. We should not become totally dependent on it. The key to it is to use technology wisely. The effects of it depend entirely on how we use it. It is believed that technology has both positive short-term and negative long-term impact on our lives. We should be in control of it and not the other way around. We must continue creating more advanced technologies pursuant to our drive to innovate. Just as what Jacob Bronowski has written in his essay “The Reach of Imagination: “the human gift is imagination … The richness of human life is that we have many lives; we live the events that do not happen (and some that cannot) as vividly as those that do.” While we have the human desire to better our lives, we must be extremely careful not to turn this desire into a needless vice. We must use human ingenuity for all the good reasons and not instigate our destruction. While technology can open up new possibilities in many areas of life, extreme care should be taken to make sure that the technology is fit to our core values and not the other way around. Technology should never be used as a weapon of destruction but a tool for improvement and development. It is advised that we should not only learn how to use technology effectively but how to utilize it wisely to make sure it contributes to our well-being and not affect us in a negative way. We can best use technology to further our goals to succeed and to realize our sense of purpose and direction. As a matter of fact, we can even strengthen our human interactions through technology. In a way, technology becomes a reflection of our own self. Most of all, our human element should be a priority.