The
Age of Technology and the World
The
Internet is an ever-changing resource of both today and of the future. It has
created a tool that has aided in everyday things as well as contributed to many
advanced operations. Despite the way
computers have emerged so suddenly into the society of today, they have shaped
the minds of many. This of course has
lead to many opinions of the very existence of technology. Specifically educated individuals, like Clive
Thompson, an avid writer, blogger and author of Public Thinking, believe that
with the emergence of computers and social medias has benefitted people to the
point that it has improved cognitive thinking, writing abilities and the ability
to make connections. However, there are
people that lie on the other side of the spectrum as well. Nicholas Carr for
example, writer of “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains”,
argues that the World Wide Web has had a negative effect to the point that he
cannot read a paper without getting somewhat distracted and off track, in
addition to this he states that our cognition is receiving direct affects of
this fidgety adaptation too. In my own
analysis of what technology’s role in society has done, I feel that I fall
somewhere in between on the spectrum of Carrs view vs. Thompsons view. Technological advances today have built an
advanced society, however this can be seen as both good and bad due to multiple
reasons. It is essential that this
controversial issue be addressed due to the fact that it is absurd to think that
technology, like that of computers, will be going away anytime soon. We live the age of Apple, Google, and the rest
of the Digital World. In this paper, I am motivated to reflect on Thompson and
Carrs views as well as present my own argument to the issue at hand. I will analyze the strengths and weaknesses
of multiple articles to extend and challenge my own argument of the situation.
As
addressed previously, Carr and Thompson present valid arguments in which they
both back them selves up with evidence in the forms of testimonies, anecdotes,
and historical and current events examples. Although both of the arguments in each of
these articles are polar opposite to one another, looking into the points they
make and evidence they use to support these points will be beneficial in
developing and understanding both sides of the issue. With that being said, going in depth to
Thompson’s argument that the Internet is changing our cognitive and writing
abilities for the better, his standpoint suggests that as a society, writing is
becoming more of a natural phenomenon. We
blog, text, email, tweet, update status, and every so often write a letter;
this contributes to a widened vocabulary and much more practice with writing
than ever before. He states that today,
“Each day, we compose 154 billion e-mails, more than 500 million tweets on
Twitter, and over a million blog posts and 1.3 million blog comments on
WordPress alone. On Facebook, we write about 16 million words per day.” (Public
Thinking, 47) Thompson continues on to
say that all that writing, totals up to just about “3.6 trillion words daily”(Public
Thinking, 47). With that being said,
Thompson acknowledges that this is the most we have written ever. Furthermore, Thompson transitions to even give
the example of his mother in this part of the article to solidify the idea that
writing has been much more emphasized in recent years than
ever before. After interviewing with the
seventy seven year old, she laughs at the idea of so much being written by the
rest of the world daily. When asked how
many paragraphs she had written in the past year she responded with, “Oh
never!” (Public Thinking, 50) The
absolute most was a grocery list here and there as well as the occasional
signing of a check. So, as can clearly
be seen from the statistics of today as well as the generation of Thompsons
mother, a lot has changed and has transformed people into more successful
writers. Being exposed to more writing
leads to the overall improvement of it, and that was one of the main messages
of Clive Thompsons article. Technology
has major benefits and should be seen positively.
In
contrast to this idea that the Internet is an absolutely positive asset today,
Carr argues that the Internet is creating a generation incapable of reading any
type of work. If the article does not
have a short thread or ads surrounding it, the odds are that you can find
yourself fidgeting or losing concentration in whatever reading you are
presented with. In his experience he
finds that, “my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking
for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain
back to the text.” (Carr, 1) He states
that not only does he find himself experiencing this inability to focus, but
several of his own colleagues as well. However,
what Carr fails to address is that technology is nowhere near becoming obsolete
in society (Carr, 3). In an alternate
source relating to the same issue of technology in world, is a PBS video done
in January of 2011 titled “Is Technology Wiring Teens to Have Better Brains?” and
connects to the ideas of both Clive Thompson and Nicholas Carr, as
well as my overall personal argument of the situation. In the video, researchers assess how the
various forms of technology and social medias today distract students, yet they
excel in the area of multitasking. This
means that children today are more specialized in focusing on several things at
once; they are learning to drink from a “technological fire hose” (PBS, 2011). This multitasking ability may be a skill that
cannot be seen in the generations prior to this age of ever changing
technology. Children have become digital
natives, and although this may mean being glued to cell phones or computer
screens this “addiction” provides endless information that you wouldn’t believe
(PBS, 2011). This leads me into my own
personal argument on the effect of technology on our brains, society and more.
After
reviewing Carr and Thompson I have taken some of their ideas and incorporated
them into my own say on this matter. As
originally stated technological advances today have contributed to an
innovative society, however this can be seen as both negative and positive. In my 18 years of existence, it’s easy for me
to say that I have grown up in the age of Apple and Google and more
corporations like them. Technology is all around us and
that is especially true for most of my peers as well. We grew up in the age of computers and cell
phones, smart phones, laptops, and tablets. Having stated that, I believe that in my
generation the gap is much harder to distinguish than it is compared to my
parents’ generation. Constantly, we have
the threat of "we didn't have cell phones back in my day", and even
"you have everything at your fingertips, I never had that as a kid". Even in the PBS video, it was reported that
teens today do everything all at once due to computers. They have; we have, been accustomed to what has been put in front of us. I am sure this
is a common trend among most people, but the technological age is not slowing
down anytime soon, as Thompson said in his article. I do agree that with this rapid advancement of
technology as well as social medias, it has changed people as a society. I do not believe that this change is
completely positive as Thompson does, and I do not think this change is
completely negative as Carr does. I do
believe that we lie somewhere along the middle in balance between negatives and
positives. Social changes in media are
so recent that we do not know much about long term affects quite yet, however
at a young age our brains have adapted to use the most of what we have,
including all things social media related. This definitely extends my argument regarding
positive benefits. Personally, I have
probably written about 20 letters total and those include ones to Santa and a
couple of thank you cards, otherwise everything I do is texting or emailing. Much like Thompson argued in his paper that
writing has been taken to new levels I agree with how I have seen direct
effects in myself over the years. Personally
I am not a fan of writing whatsoever, but recently I have taken notice that in
the last few years I have adapted to higher levels of writing that I originally
thought I was incapable of. On the other
hand, my reading skills have definitely been altered by the Internet and ads
and everything else it has to offer. This
is where I think about Carr's argument and agree on some levels. As mentioned, reading has become hard for me
just as it had for Carr. Focus is much
harder to find, and I easily get bored. I
do think that I have received several positive benefits from the advancement of
technology through my short life span, yet there are also areas where I find
hindered qualities as well. There is always good and bad that comes with
everything, and technological advancement through the years is no exception to
this fact.
In conclusion, after the
analysis of Carrs argument, Thompson’s argument, and PBS videos perspective it
can be assumed that many differing views exist in relation to this specific
topic. In my own points as well, I like
to think that I incorporate and take several viewpoints into consideration such
as that of the previous sources that I listed. In order to make a sound argument, essentially
what you back yourself up with can either make or break the message you are
trying to get across. The technological
world is not slowing down anytime soon and to think otherwise is absolutely
absurd. As a society we have received
both good and bad of this sudden and rapid emergence of computers, cell phones,
etc. It is better to think that through
the bad that comes with the good, we can learn more about our weaknesses and
maybe even better ourselves. Despite the
controversy, technology has changed the people of my generation to adapt to a
new digital world, thus creating “high tech” individuals in more positive ways
than negative ways.
