Detrimental Dependence

In this day and age, the incredible amount of technology usage has become quite normal.  With the over-usage has come over-dependence.  Over-dependence of technology has become deleterious because it can distract multitudes of people from more important things, it has caused humans in general to become less efficient, and it has reduced face to face social interactions.  Positive results have come from this evolution of technology, but ill-effects have also resulted because of it.  Some people have noticed this, yet some people have not.  Most likely, the people who have noticed the amount of technology dependence see it in those who are all around them.

Students logging on to Facebook instead of starting their homework has become quite common.  Housewives also sometimes read blogs instead of doing the dishes or the laundry.  Today's computer technology has become distracting for most people and they do not accomplish their more important tasks.  Many people can have separation anxiety because of long periods without their computer or cell phone at their finger tips.  This causes one to leave the dirty dishes in the sink so that they can go check their email or see if they have any notifications on Facebook.  As a result, ignored dirty laundry, dirty dishes, and dust accumulate.  When tasks pile up in unmanageable amounts because of procrastination, one may regret not doing these chores afterwards and only afterwards.  Beforehand, house wife may not anticipate these happenings, resulting in more work than before.

Humans tend to depend on technology so much that slowly the populace has become less efficient.  Housewives may need to know how many cups in a pint.  They simply sit down in front of the computer, type in their question, and they find the answer.  Yet, people only tend to retain such information as long as they need to.  If they forget the answer, they simply look it up once again.  Long ago, such technology did not exist, and women did not need to look up how much a pinch requires, or how many teaspoons in a tablespoon, or how many friends she had on Facebook.  She simply remembered the important things.  As humans depend more and more on technology, they do not need to retain as much information as they needed to before.  Information will rest at the fingertips constantly.  Therefore, people do not have to remember; they simply look it up, and forget once again.

Today, people mainly socially interact with each other through Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook.  People who do not have a life-long companion resort to dating sites.  Physical social interactions become less and less popular.  Communication online comes with more ease than talking face-to-face, anyway.  Why go through the trouble of keeping up a conversation when one cannot think about what to say before he or she says it?  Instead, people pull out their cell phones, or open up Facebook to chat with friends.  Millions have forgotten how to communicate in “real life”.  Texting has made talking to a teen’s crush much easier.  Yet, males and females alike find it difficult to talk to each other in person.  Elaine Swann, a 21^st century etiquette expert, says, “I think because of the fact that we can kind of hide or sit, you know, behind our computers screen, some individuals have a tendency to share information that they might not otherwise share if they were standing face to face with someone.”  She basically says that humans feel more timid in “real life” to give out information or to interact with someone as opposed how they would feel online.  All of this ties into one thing; humanity has started to depend more and more on technology to say things they otherwise would not say to someone in real life.

Although the technology has helped this world, adverse effects have also resulted.  Chilren sit up in their rooms chatting on Facebook instead of sitting in the family room, bonding with family.  Sometimes this can cause families to grow apart.  General Omar Nelson Bradley once said, “Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.”  If we continue to update technology and create more to help us, eventually, it will cause more harm than help.  Even though complete dependence on technology can cause damage, restricted use may not.  Technology, if used in moderation, can produce positive effects.  As time goes on, however, more scientists will unveil newly invented gadgets and the society will have to depend less on themselves to accomplish tasks.  This will cause individuals to become less and less efficient and social.  Few people can remember the days before technology.  Those people can testify how much of a change technology has brought about, yet they yearn for the past days when life had simplicity without all this technology.

Cavanaugh, Maureene. "How Technology Affects Etiquette And Social Interaction." 1 12 2010. Online Posting to KPBS. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. <http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/jan/12/how-technology-affects-etiquette-and-social-intera/>.