Will technology heighten the erosion of social relationships? Or will it enhance our ability to connect with others irrespective of geographic proximity and time. In my opinion, technology is a tool that we as humans use to improve everyday life. However, in modern times this tool begins to use us, control us, we are now depending on it.
Technology is somewhat a culture in its self, or at least it is becoming one.
People become attached to their digital devices, how often do you leave home without taking a mobile phone? People spend hours on end looking at their TV screens, playing computer games and on their lap tops. This is dangerous to society, the essence of being is lost, we become attached to our digital gadgets and are sense of communication and awareness is absent. What will happen to the future generations if we do not put a stop to this now? The days where climbing trees and having picnics in the park are long gone, children are now glued to their digital devices. What will happen to society if our ability to communicate is forsaken? Will we become emotionless and disorientated? Thinking like a computer will rob us of our ability to be compassionate and empathetic to each other, technology works on an input and output system, it lacks sentiments.
Technology is somewhat a culture in its self, or at least it is becoming one.
People become attached to their digital devices, how often do you leave home without taking a mobile phone? People spend hours on end looking at their TV screens, playing computer games and on their lap tops. This is dangerous to society, the essence of being is lost, we become attached to our digital gadgets and are sense of communication and awareness is absent. What will happen to the future generations if we do not put a stop to this now? The days where climbing trees and having picnics in the park are long gone, children are now glued to their digital devices. What will happen to society if our ability to communicate is forsaken? Will we become emotionless and disorientated? Thinking like a computer will rob us of our ability to be compassionate and empathetic to each other, technology works on an input and output system, it lacks sentiments.
"The more distracted we become, the less able we are to experience the subtlest, most distinctly human forms of empathy, compassion, and emotion." – Nicholas Carr
Technology allows us to ‘save’ memories, we can retrieve information whenever we need it, but what happens to our natural ability to remember if we do not use it? The calculator shattered our mental arithmetic, the spellchecker ruined our capability to spell correctly, e mail has dismissed our letter writing and texting has stunted our expression. Research has shown that the internet and use of search engines has made us lazy, it has degraded our mental ability. When we rely on the internet as an external memory source, we store less in our brain – this has a negative effect on our quality of thoughts and analysis.
http://sictindia.org/attachments/Image/ghostface.jpg [Accessed on 01/11/2011]
Betsy Sparrow and her colleagues at Columbia University conducted various experiments, the result was that if people know they can find information out by using technology (internet) they will memorize less of the information and more of how to find the information. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/fac-bios/SparrowB/faculty.html [Accessed on 23.0.2011]
Betsy Sparrow and her colleagues at Columbia University conducted various experiments, the result was that if people know they can find information out by using technology (internet) they will memorize less of the information and more of how to find the information. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/fac-bios/SparrowB/faculty.html [Accessed on 23.0.2011]
Every time we recall a memory we are re processing and editing it, therefore the memory is not fixed, it is always changing. The positive aspect here is that Technology can be used to capture the correct information; our memories may be out of date or incorrect. It allows us to store facts that make history, to accumulate information for future generations.
"We are drowning in data while starving for wisdom" - E.O. Wilson's
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/aug/15/internet-brain-neuroscience-debate [Accessed on 05.10.11]
The above quote raises many questions, is technology enlightening and allowing us to grow, or diminishing and setting us personal limitations? The general outlook is that technology gives rise to an ‘interconnected’ world in which communication, intelligence and information is made accessible. On the contrary, is technology – the internet, isolating individuals and giving people a false sense of identity and making people dependant on social mefia?
The World Wide Web opens up a sphere of information, but the line between fact and fiction is somewhat blurred. There is too much information ‘out there’ and it is impossible to control, this is somewhat liberating but it is also dangerous to our discretion. The internet allows people to share their views on things, whether it is politics or simply a product/service, it gives us a voice.
The Internet makes information readily available to anyone, access to libraries or to an education is no longer required; people are able to do their own research by the click of a mouse.
As we are drained of our “inner repertory of dense cultural inheritance,” Foreman concluded, we risk turning into “‘pancake people’—spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button.” – -Richard Foreman
As we are drained of our “inner repertory of dense cultural inheritance,” Foreman concluded, we risk turning into “‘pancake people’—spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button.” – -Richard Foreman
Technology influences our sense of distance, because it enables communication to happen at a high speed across the globe. This can be an advantage in the sense that we now do not have to travel or write letters to keep in contact; but in my opinion, it is a type of illusion. Let me use Facebook as an example, it has become a world phenomenon and people are spending the majority of their time online. A person may have hundreds of ‘friends’ on Facebook but when you ‘communicate’ online, you are essentially alone. Technology can also be seen as dehumanising, our senses are constantly being stimulated by technology; for example, television has the power to evoke emotions, alter our thinking and manipulate our minds. The great spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle argues that television has the ability to programme our minds; states that whilst watching television our minds our unconscious and we are no long thinking but absorbing information, this is why the advertising industry pays so much money to place adverts on TV, so that they can hack into our unconscious minds.
Technology is changing the way learn, think and live, it is essentially shaping our lives and will have huge impact on the future. Technology also has an impact on culture and is somewhat a culture its self; this quote describes the changes taking place over the centuries.
‘’19th century culture was defined by the novel, 20th century by the cinema, the culture of the 21st century will be defined by the interface’’ - Aaron Koblin
Does this assumption mean that the future lies in digital media? And that personal communication will become obsolete?
I disagree, we need to use and not be used by technology, and yes it will have a positive impact on our lives but only if we find the correct balance between virtual reality and reality its self. The most successful events industries find this balance; they use technology as a means of marketing and data collection. They use creativity to unleash market potential by designing promotional material, websites and generating innovative ideas for the event. An events company will also use culture in order to identify and attract their audience; this can be done by creating themes, specific music genres and by culturally branding the event. The industry is concerned with stimulating the senses in order to create an experience; it focuses on engaging people in a personal way to create memories and experiences, people want to feel a part of something, and events have the power to do this.
I disagree, we need to use and not be used by technology, and yes it will have a positive impact on our lives but only if we find the correct balance between virtual reality and reality its self. The most successful events industries find this balance; they use technology as a means of marketing and data collection. They use creativity to unleash market potential by designing promotional material, websites and generating innovative ideas for the event. An events company will also use culture in order to identify and attract their audience; this can be done by creating themes, specific music genres and by culturally branding the event. The industry is concerned with stimulating the senses in order to create an experience; it focuses on engaging people in a personal way to create memories and experiences, people want to feel a part of something, and events have the power to do this.
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