Is Technology an Addiction or an Essential Device in Our Everyday Lives - Research Paper Example

? Section/# Technology in the Modern World – Agent of Positive Change or Addictive Counter Culture An inarguable fact concerning the recent past is the fact that a great degree of technological change and paradigm shifts have defined the past few decades. Whether one considers the progression between landline telephones, pagers, car phones, and eventually mobile communications and PDAs, such as are exhibited within the modern era, or whether one considers the growth and development of the microchip from what it was merely 30 years ago and to what it has become today, it is clear and obvious that technological change permeates nearly every aspect of the modern world in which we live. The intent of this brief analysis will be to understand whether or not the way in which humanity currently interacts with technology is on the whole helpful or harmful – or whether it exhibits key aspects of what can be understood to be an unhealthful and addictive relationship of dependence. Firstly, it does not take a great deal of analytical or scientific discovery to realize that the way in which technology has reshaped and classified our world is without question. Moreover, a sociological increase into the way in which technology has shifted interpersonal dynamics, relationships, and communication has been conducted by a variety of researchers and convincingly pointed to the fact that the current era of texting, instant messaging, Facebook et al has significantly decreased the amount of time that individuals spend in face-to-face communication and has moved society convincingly towards something of a more introverted nature. Although introversion in and of itself is not necessarily a poor character trait, it must be noted that the overuse and reliance upon these technological tools which have already been discussed has created a dynamic by which formerly extroverted individuals are merely introverted and carrying out a great deal of interpersonal communication that one might otherwise carry out face-to-face via the Internet or other technologically enabled means (Bosetti, 2010). However, communication is not the only thing that suffers from an overdependence upon technology. As will be discussed next, memory recall and the perennial knowledge that any and all information can be readily retrieved has created a situation in which memory and the ability to recall tidbits of information are placed at a much lower premium than they might have been in an era in which the likes of Google or other prominent technological means by which data can be retrieved had existed. Again, it does not take a great deal of imagination to envision an era in which it was necessary for the schoolchild, or even societal shareholder, to be nominally familiar and remember such information as capitals of states, a rough understanding and appreciation for the order and number of presidents, how many chromosomes exists in human DNA, who the first woman in space was, for the year in which the state of Israel was created (Schimmenti & Caretti, 2010). As can be seen, there is something to be said for the amount of memory recall that individual can possess and leverage as a means of readily interjecting key understandings and tidbits of fact, data, and history into conversations and pertinent situations. However, with an overdependence upon technology has, situation in which individuals have placed this premium of memory and recall far down on the list of priorities; choosing instead to merely “Google that” or “look that up” (Ozcinar, 2011). It should be noted that there is nothing wrong with an individual relying upon technology as a means of achieving relevant levels of data or facts that they might not otherwise be familiar; yet, what has transpired is a situation in which data and factual recollection have so far decreased in value that the likes of Google and the other technological giants that exist within the current paradigm have come to supersede this basic and in innate human capacity (Pi-Chu, 2013). This has occurred so much so and with such a rapid pace and progression that it can be understood by the reader that what has been described has come to fundamentally shift the way in which human thought takes place and can convincingly be understood as a prime example of the way in which technological overdependence is exhibited within the modern era (Siomos et al, 2012). Whereas the two previous factors which a been discussed, the level to which sociological and communication norms and mores have been shifted as a result of technological overdependence and the means by which memory recall and previously understood information has been harmed as a result of technological overdependence, the third issue which will be discussed will focus mainly upon the means by which technological overdependence/reliance/addiction has begun to show signs with regards to psychological factors that are exhibited within the general population. Although this closely mirrors the means by which sociological and cultural factors are exhibited, it is in fact in and of itself a different metric and determinant (Hodis & Bruner, 2009). One does not need to perform an in depth a sociological or psychological evaluation to see the impacts that technological overdependence has had upon an individual stakeholder in society with regards to the overall amount of time that they spend immersed and technology to realize that this has become a very clear and present side effects of the way in which technology exists and is utilized within the modern world (Marsch, 2012). There are of course opposing viewpoints that point to the fact that technology has ultimately helped humans to have all in a positive direction. Due to the fact that it is impossible for any one individual to know and remember all things at one time, individuals who ascribe to this particular understanding of the weakness of the aforementioned theory point to the fact that technology is actually working hand in glove with human constraints and seeking to maximize overall potential (Caretti & Craparo, 2009). By the same token, those individuals that see technology and the means by which humans integrate with it within the current era as the overall net positive also seek to point to the fact that individuals spending a greater amount of time with technology is merely due to the fact that technology has made it possible for them to have such extent and available time in the first place (Gentile, 2013). Additionally, the use and dependence upon aspects of communication such as texting, instant messaging, and social media are viewed not as a net negative; rather, they are viewed as proof that technology has enabled people to keep in contact with more individuals and maintain close relationships that they would have been able to had it not existed within the first place. Though these viewpoints are at least somewhat salient, it must be understood by the reader that they are incomplete with regards to explaining the issues and drawbacks that have been explained in great detail in the first portion of this analysis. Due to the fact that human nature is naturally addictive to many types of behavior, technology has provided yet another means by which this addictive nature can be evidenced within society. To be fair, technology has been both a great benefit and an overall drawback with regards the way in which human behavior and development has taken place over the past several decades. Rather than stating categorically that technology, as is evidenced within the current world invariably leads to a degree of overdependence, a far better handle with which to understand and leverage technology would be to define it as a useful tool that holds within it, as do so many other tools, the ability to become addictive and redefine the way in which the human interacts with the world. In short, the understanding that this analysis wishes to convey to the reader is that technology has the potential to be addictive; however, technology in and of itself should not be understood by the same means that many other addictive or potentially addictive habits are understood. As such, technology in and of itself is neither evil nor harmful; rather, human dependence upon it and overdependence/addiction to it, as has been defined within the preceding analysis, is what is most destructive with regards to this relationship. References Bosetti, L. (2010). Three Questions on Prosthetic Technology and A-(d)diction. Paragraph, 33(3), 410-422. doi:10.3366/para.2010.0207 Caretti, V., & Craparo, G. (2009). Psychopathological issues of technological addiction: New diagnostic criteria for addiction. Annual Review Of Cybertherapy And Telemedicine, 7277-280. Gentile, D. A., Coyne, S. M., & Bricolo, F. (2013). Pathological technology addictions: What is scientifically known and what remains to be learned. In K. E. Dill (Ed.) , The Oxford handbook of media psychology (pp. 382-402). New York, NY US: Oxford University Press. Hodis, M. A., & Bruner II, G. C. (2009). Technology Addiction: An Exploratory Study of the Negative Impact of Technology on Consumer Welfare. Advances In Consumer Research, 36840-842. Marsch, L. A. (2012). Leveraging Technology to Enhance Addiction Treatment and Recovery. Journal Of Addictive Diseases, 31(3), 313-318. doi:10.1080/10550887.2012.694606 Ozcinar, Z. (2011). The Relationship Between Internet Addiction and Communication, Educational and Physical Problems of Adolescents in North Cyprus. Australian Journal Of Guidance & Counselling, 21(1), 22-32. doi:10.1375/ajgc.21.1.22 PI-CHU, W. (2013). ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO THE HAPPY FARM FACEBOOK APPLICATION. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 41(4), 539-553. doi:10.2224/sbp.2013.41.4.539 Schimmenti, A., & Caretti, V. (2010). Psychic retreats or psychic pits?: Unbearable states of mind and technological addiction. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 27(2), 115-132. doi:10.1037/a0019414 Siomos, K., Floros, G., Fisoun, V., Evaggelia, D., Farkonas, N., Sergentani, E., & ... Geroukalis, D. (2012). Evolution of Internet addiction in Greek adolescent students over a two-year period: the impact of parental bonding. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 21(4), 211-219. doi:10.1007/s00787-012-0254-0 Read More