Musings

Technology: Friend or Foe?

Hold five days worth of music in my pocket; use a computer the size of a small tissue box; watch TV, take pictures, play video games, and stay connected to parents via a sleek cell phone. It is pretty amazing! But what if one day all this cutting edge technology invented and used by the human race were to suddenly disappear?

Presently, we are a very technology dependent race, and without technology many aspects of our everyday life would be drastically impacted. In that the world as we know it would simply fall apart. Just imagine a day without a computer; so many daily activities we take for granted would be made impossible. Something as simple as sending or receiving an email or instant message would be unthinkable. Money transaction when making a purchase would become a chore, thanks to the mathematically challenged society that we have become. Microwave moms would have to sweat it out in the kitchen in order to put together a decent meal. Accomplishing almost any task without the help of technology would become hard labor; labor similar to what our ancestors were accustomed to doing. The loss of technology would restrict communication, impact trade, and create isolated communities, forcing the human race to take two steps back, and eventually causing our quality of life to plummet.

Although the negative consequences to a world without technology greatly out weigh the positive, there is still something to be said about the positives. Over the last two centuries humans have made rapid progress in inventing new technology to ease their every day life. With the birth of every new piece of technology another strong bond is made between the machine and the human using it. Looking back at how the human race has forged a bond with machinery, one sees how quickly and overly we have become dependent on technology. If this bond of dependence were to snap or disappear, the trance that humans have fallen into will break, and we will be forced to become self- dependant once again; a laboriously challenging task indeed. These days a child’s life is completely taken control of by either a Playstation 2, an Xbox 360, Gamecube, computer games, or hours wasted away in front of our old friend the television. Without any of these “brain fryers”, hopefully the youth of today will concentrate on more important activities, such as school. However, deprived of their technology replete world, children would seek out their fun elsewhere. How about some old fashioned games like sports? The disappearance of technology could even cure the obesity epidemic that has become so rampant in the U.S. Needless to say without technology humans would be completely lost, but there is no harm in taking a look on the bright side, however miniscule it may be.

Machines have become our lifelines and without them the picture seems very bleak. The loss of technology would create a great void in human lives, and could very well toss us into a second dark age. However, as we are venturing into another new year we need to be cognizant of our dependence on technology. The Y2K at the turn of the century is a prime example of how much dread there was just at the possibility of technology going awry and beyond human control. Imagine if something like the Y2K did happen, and instead of no control over technology there would be no technology to control; that is a very dark thought, ominous of an even darker future

posted by thethoughtless @ 2:21 PM