Technology versus Humanity - Research Paper Example

12 April Technology versus Humanity I was born in the year 1978. Boundaries of medical science were being explored and expanded. The first test tube baby was born in London. The year saw an adventure by three men to successfully fly across the Atlantic in a helium balloon. The entertainment sector was dominated by stereo cassettes. The most surprising technology introduced that directly influenced our lives and was a major breakthrough in the field of entertainment was perhaps the introduction of Walkman brand of portable stereo players by Sony in the year. It was the period when electronics were missing portability. This breakthrough opened horizons for the music industry and was a revolutionary product. This trend is reminiscent of the revolution the iPod bought to the entertainment industry. It was the time when computers or digital content of any type was almost nonexistent for everyday consumers. Everything was done manually and the efficiency of every system was accordingly slow. Movies were exclusive to cinemas and the world depended on conventional televisions with now forgotten Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) for their home entertainment. For the year 1978, the Walkman was equivalent to the launch of a revolutionary product introducing its own category; just like the year 2010 is known as the year of the iPad (Francoeur 1).  With the development of new technology over time, our productive capabilities as well as our lifestyle have changed. We may not realize the transition because we have been a part of it and passing along with every development. But if we take a look down the memory lane and remember our lifestyles decades ago, we realize that we have come a long way and changed without realizing much. Technology has not only improved in entertainment sector as with the development from a Sony Walkman to smart phones we use today, but this change can be applied to every field. Resultantly, our lifestyles have changed with technology. We have more options to choose as to how we spend our leisure time and how we can improve our efficiency in work. This increase in efficiency has accelerated the rate of our learning and developing new technologies and innovations in every sector. Health, education, military and every field that we look at has come a long way. With the technology we have changed and the way we interact with each other has changed as well. The technology has improved our lifestyles in some ways; however, it has negative effects as well. These effects are not minor and they have changed us gradually over time. We may not realize it, but this change in our behavior is at a very large scale. We can only comprehend the magnitude by comparing it with our values decades ago. Some of the negative effects of technology are highlighted; Technology has improved communications. Mobile phones has given us the capability to call our friends and loved ones any time we want. It provides us with limited interaction with our friends. Video calling is available through our mobile devices and computers. The technology has no doubt provided us with easy access to each other at all times. Our devices are our connection with the world. It all sounds good in theory and has made things easier. But, in reality our devices have replaced our friends. We only meet and interact with our contacts through our devices. The need for physical interaction has become a low priority. Physical interactions have reduced and our devices are our new best friends. We now prefer to stay at our homes and spend time with our entertainment systems. As a result, our social activities and interactions have changed and are being affected in a negative way. Face to face communication has decreased and has negative effect on our societies and behavior. Lack of this interaction has decreased personal growth. As per Wier, personalities have started to change over time and we see increase in numbers of introvert human beings (184). This is simply due to the fact that we need social interactions for our personal growth and confidence. We need social skills to survive and gatherings and meetings have always been a key source for our personal growth. With the development of technology our social values have decreased. Studies at various levels have been done to prove the negative effects of technology on human behavior. These studies have shown that even an email has negative effects on our behaviors. The author of these studies Kling states his findings, “Technological determinism, which focuses on material characteristics such as ‘cues filtered out’ or ‘new capabilities,’ is the most common explanation for negative social effects of electronic communication technology” (516). These are due to increased capability given to us by technology. This capability is not always used in a positive way, even though; technology has been made with a positive intent. Technology has improved by many folds over the years in the field of medical sciences. We have improved capabilities to deal with health issues, but in turn technology has affected our societies in a negative way. With good entertainment systems and computers we tend to sit at our homes for entertainment and even some work. Our working lifestyle has also changed with computers. We have improved our output by using computers, but with limited physical activity. This change in our lifestyle has affected our health. Our current lifestyle activities can now easily be termed as sedentary lifestyle. The increase in obesity and diabetes has been linked with the advances in technology. As Mattson and Calabrese reinforce this fact by stating “What do telephones, automobiles, planes, trains and computers all have in common? They all engender sedentary lifestyle.” (141). Many of us just drive to offices, work and communicate on computers, watch television and surf the web for entertainment. This trend shows limited physical activity. This lifestyle has bad influence on children in particular. Instead of sports they prefer gaming consoles. This lack of activity has consequences on our health. Furthermore, everyday tasks has become less challenging even in fields that are based on physical activity. For example, farmers use machines to sow, harvest and transfer their crops. The physical requirement of labor has decreased in every field of life. Few of the health issues that are being linked with the use of technology are as under; Till the 80s children use to play vigorously on the streets and sporting activities were common in the neighborhoods. With the new trend technology has introduced, children as well as adults prefer staying at home. Obesity has been a major concern over the years and its statistics are rising along with advancement in technology. Statistics show that the obesity rate doubled with the introduction of television between the years 1950 and 1980 and this rate has tripled since the introduction of computers (Mukherjee 103). To further prove the point a graph is included from Zeeberg which presents the obesity rate in the US (2). As evident from the data, the obesity rate climbs gradually over the years till 1979. This rate climbs drastically in the 1980s and the 1990s. The graph coincides perfectly with introduction of computers in consumer market and simply points to the fact that technology, in particular computers which also include smart phones are responsible for this change. The rate seems to climb and supports the fact that we like to spend our time in our houses and physical activity including social activities are decreasing along with development of technology. Children are more vulnerable to the issue as they can likely develop cardiovascular diseases and even diabetes. Cell phones have become an important part of our daily life. They are not only for communication, but have started replacing tasks that were explicit to computers few years back. Though very productive, they have a negative effect on our health. As per Callahan the long term use of cell phones is suspected to be a cause for brain tumors or skin infections (255). These effects are possible result of exposure of electromagnetic field (EMF). The effect has not been proven yet, but a study shows increased brain activity when cell phones are held near the brain (Mosher 1). Over time, technology has advanced the military capabilities. New hardware and equipment has improved performance of our military. Technology has given us efficient ways to kill other humans. This capability has also been translated to our societies, which have become more volatile than before. Weapons are produced and they are eventually used against humans. Furthermore, the field has expanded to even virtual space. Some of the negative influences of technology in criminal activities are discussed. All these activities are a by-product of advancing technology. This is a new category in crime and includes hacking or spoofing. With increase in computer networking and our dependence on electronic payment systems, cybercrime activities have increased. Individuals and businesses can be targeted to retrieve critical information, valuable financial data and personal information. Over time many methods have evolved to steal or hack this information. Spam, Trojan viruses, Spyware and even Phishing can be used to steal information. Furthermore, with smart phones being ported on advanced software platforms raises the possibility of cybercrime. Android and iOS along with Windows Phone are main mobile operating systems which have security flaws and enough networking capabilities to participate in cybercrime activities. The latest trend in computer storage is cloud computing, which is a new system and is prone to attacks (Biswas 1). Cell phones, work stations and home computers are linked together with cloud computing. This increases the threat and our personal information can be accessed which may even include our credit card or electronic payment information. Cybercrimes have been a major concern for governments to protect themselves against terrorist activities. This new category is increasing in magnitude and is evolving over time. Criminal activities have also increased with technology. Internet has a major role in this problem. Information is easily accessible by many to train and develop instruments that can be used in criminal activities. Terrorists have also used this facility to train and plan their acts as per the available information on the internet. Internet has been a major source for open source intelligence (OSINT) and has been used to plot terrorism along with domestic criminal activities. Awareness has increased about the operational capabilities of law enforcing agencies and the technologies used to counter threats. Smart phones have increased the magnitude, accessibility and portability of this information. This information can be used to bypass any barriers and furthermore, technology has been evolving for countering these measures. Technology used by law enforcing agencies along with criminals has been evolving to counter each other. For example, Kevlar is used in bullet proof jackets by law enforcing agencies and armor piercing rounds have been made to counter it. Technology has a huge impact on our environment. Global Warming is caused by carbon emissions. Resultantly, we are experiencing global temperature change, which has serious consequences and can change our future drastically. Our means of transportation depends on fossil fuel and as a result, the volume of carbon dioxide has increased over time. The gas being the biggest contributor to the Greenhouse Effect absorbs re-emitted energy from the Earth and transmits it back. Average temperatures have increased which causes reduction in extent and thickness of glaciers and therefore, contribute towards rising sea level (Arendt et al. 382). This effect is increasing in magnitude and its consequences keep growing. The magnitude and devices responsible for this change are not only limited to vehicles, but our smart phones and electronic devices and their manufacturing process are contributors to this effect. Smart phones and electronic devices like laptops contain non-recyclable materials and in particular Lithium Ion batteries. These are extremely difficult to destroy and are hazardous waste material. Along with these our daily use appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, and aerosols are some of the instruments contributing towards releasing chlorofluorocarbons CFCs into the atmosphere. These are responsible for ozone depletion (Satapathy 1). Furthermore, at a larger scale, industrial production facilities are responsible for carbon emissions and certain greenhouse gases as well. This is a serious issue and affects all of us. Our future can drastically change and the effects of global warming are not completely predictable. Rising sea levels alone is dangerous for islands and our planetary ecosystem. After discussing all the negative effects of technology, the question arises; is technology the real culprit? It has all the positive aspects and is intended for positive use. But, the outcome cannot always be positive. Technology has undoubtedly given us capability to communicate and interact with each other. Social networks have been designed for this specific purpose. It has changed the dynamics of business, education and social activities. We can better plan events and organize in a much efficient way. Facilities like Global Positioning System (GPS) integrated in our mobile devices has given us increased capability to meet and trace our friends in a better way. The negative impact of technology on social values presents a mixed result. It would depend on personal preferences, but the trend is changing towards negative side and we do like to spend our time at home as compared to lifestyle decades ago. In a similar way, technology has improved drastically in the field of medical sciences. Though, the negative effects of technology like increase in obesity are supported by statistics. This cannot be denied and our changing lifestyle has negative impact on our health. Even though physical fitness is a personal preference, but the change can be linked with technology. Measures have been taken to implement changes in work environments and offices to include routine physical tests. These all are passive measures, but the fact is that we need computers and technology to work efficiently. They have increased our output by many folds and we heavily depend on technology and we are addicted to it. The effects above are mostly passive in nature and we can rectify by our personal motivation, but the effect of technology on our environment cannot be ignored or taken lightly. It has serious consequences for our future and we need a solution to control the damage we are doing to our home. There is no running from this situation and it must be realized. Global Warming is a serious issue that needs attention and technology is the culprit. Works Cited Arendt, Anthony, et al. “Rapid Wastage of Alaska Glaciers and Their Contribution to Rising Sea Level.” Science 297. Jul (2002): 382. Print. Biswas, Sourya. “Cloud Computing Risks (How to Deal With Them).” cloudtweaks. Cloud Tweaks, 8 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. Callahan, Joan. 50 Health Scares That Fizzled. California: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Print. Francoeur, Betsy. “2010: The Year of the iPad – 2011: The Year of the App.” fieldassignment. Charleston Orwig, 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. Kling, Rob. Computerization and Controversy: Value Conflicts and Social Choices. 2nd ed. London: Academic Press, 1996. Print. Mattson, Mark and Edward Calabrese. Hormesis: A Revolution in Biology, Toxicology and Medicine. New York: Springer, 2010. Print. Mosher, Dave. “Cell phone Radiation Increases Brain Activity.” wired. Conde Nast, 22 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. Mukherjee, Dorothey. Obesity: It Might not be all Your Fault, but it is Your Problem. Indiana: Trafford Publishing, 2011. Print. Satapathy, Pooja. “5 Products That Cause Ozone Depletion.” Ecofriend. n.p., 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. Zeeberg, Amos. “What CDC Actually Found: No Evidence of a Slowdown in National Fattening.” Discovery Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing, 12 Dec. 2007. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. Wier, Meghan. Confessions of an Introvert: The Shy Girl’s Guide to Career, Networking and Getting the Most Out of Life. Illinois: Sphinx Publishing, 2009. Print. Read More