Essay #2

Draft 1 (750 words)

The recurring theme of my classmate’s essays I read all repelled the same compelling theme: technology influences our lives immensely in so many ways that are both evident and subtle in our society. This theme reflects technology’s profound and universal influence on society, touching upon various aspects of human existence and well-being. It’s very similar in comparison to Kevin Kelley’s “technophilia” essay. “ I don’t know whether this ugliness is a necessary stage of the technium’s growth, or whether a smarter civilization than us could have tamed it earlier, but the arc of technology’s origins from life’s evolution, now accelerated, means that technium contains all of life inherent beauty – waiting to be uncovered” (Kelley 6). Kelley’s ideas revolve around the idea that technology plays an essential role in human evolution, on its evolution it is both natural and beautiful as technology reshapes society, culture, and human experience. More specifically, in the relevance of these essays, we must acknowledge technological nature, and beauty as these essays appreciate both human advancement and technological innovation. In doing so, it will help deepen our conception of its influence and capabilities. We as humans have such complex and various relationships with technology, that we rely on it for almost everything in our lives, especially, communication, information, and the convenience of completing our everyday tasks. But as technology proves to be a continuous and an impacting variable in our lives we must find our balance with it and prioritize enhancing our lives and not replacing them.

The most impactful influence of technology has to be its psychological impact. Technology’s profound psychological impact can change our behavior, relationships, and emotions in countless ways. Smartphones are mostly responsible for this, the most recent and notable addition to technological advancement is social media, social media pilots various aspects of every person’s psychological behavior. Whether it be new trends, societal changes, etc, they are all instances of what partake in our psychological behavior as they persuade and normalize humans to believe they need to be both informed and up to date with its features. In addition, this technology leads to addiction. This addiction to our phones and social media can be so integrated into our daily lives that we can no longer disconnect or lose focus from our phones. Its influence is also so powerful that it can impact all of us physically and emotionally whether we know it or not. “ For some infraction, they grounded her. And to reinforce the seriousness of her misconduct, they took away her mobile phone. Immediately the girl became physically sick. Faint, nauseous, and so ill she couldn’t get out of bed” (Kelley 1). It can even be the smallest thing such as a notification that can trigger these behaviors to this addictive piece of technology. These types of behaviors are also responsible for attention deficits. These attention deficits can affect us in class, at the dinner table, or even in-person conversations. This addiction hinders our ability to focus and properly engage in our tasks, ultimately affecting our quality of life and our relationships with other people. This is particularly unfortunate when we consider how technology entices and disrupts our lives because we are so addicted and influenced by technology.

Kelley mentions very extensively that technology has the potential to extend our outreach into the universe and enhance human intelligence to limits we could never imagine. But as this technology “evolves” he also mentions that humans must be more responsible and optimistic about technologies possible ventures. With technology’s most recent technological advancements in the 21st century, technology has already demonstrated its ability to push the boundaries of our society and personal lives. As we continue to innovate newer and better technology we are responsible for navigating it as it’s repercussions can cause severe damage to our ethics, environments, and privacy, “ with great power, comes great responsibility.” As we continue to innovate we must be capable and remain able to harness technological power for the intention of good and enhance and develop our future for the better.

In my interpretation of my classmate’s essays as well as Kelley’s, I came to the realization that though technology is an inseparable part of our lives, we need to have a positive and appropriate relationship with it. Awareness is a critical first step to avoid succumbing to technological distractions. By fostering this relationship we need to make sure we set boundaries and avoid the negative impacts of technology. While technology no doubt has its benefits, an excessive reliance on this relationship can lead to addiction, social isolation, and decreased productivity overall, affecting our mental, and physical health. With its inevitable enhancing future we must be optimistic and capable of learning as we learn to nurture our relationship with it and remain who we are while accepting its important and beneficial roles in society.

2nd draft 1000 word

The recurring theme of my classmate’s essays I read all repelled the same compelling theme: technology influences our lives immensely in so many ways that are both evident and subtle in our society. This theme reflects technology’s profound and universal influence on society, touching upon various aspects of human existence and well-being. It’s very similar in comparison to Kevin Kelley’s “technophilia” essay. “ I don’t know whether this ugliness is a necessary stage of the technium’s growth, or whether a smarter civilization than us could have tamed it earlier, but the arc of technology’s origins from life’s evolution, now accelerated, means that technium contains all of life inherent beauty – waiting to be uncovered” (Kelley 6). Kelley’s ideas revolve around the idea that technology plays an important role in human evolution which is both natural and beautiful as technology reshapes society, culture, and human experience. More specifically, in the relevance of these essays, we must acknowledge technologies nature, and beauty as these essays appreciate both human advancement and technological innovation. In doing so, it will help deepen our conception of its influence and capabilities. Humans have various relationships with technology, as we rely on it for almost everything in our lives such as communication, information, and the convenience of completing our everyday tasks. But as technology proves to be a continuous and impacting variable in our lives we must find our balance with it and prioritize enhancing our lives and not replacing them.

In “ Technophilia,” Kelley very extensively addresses that technology has the potential to extend our outreach into the universe and enhance human intelligence to limits we could never imagine. But as this technology evolves he warns that we must be more responsible and optimistic about technology’s future as it can deter from its good intentions into bad. “ Today, at the start of the 21st century, there are tens of millions of species of tools and technologies loose in the world. Assuming a modest increase of only 5% additional new tools and kinds of artifacts every year, by the end of the century our planet will be overrun by manufactured possibilities” (Kelley 6). For Kelley, this quote speaks volumes of technology’s most recent technological advancements in the 21st century, proving his theory of its ability to push the boundaries of humankind. He also mentions that our human needs are not expanding at the same rate as technological growth, meaning that these new technologies are just technologies serving other technologies. Kelley’s perspective is very eye-opening on this statement because I can personally see and understand why he feels this way. Even though we might not see it or think it is a reality and plays a significant role in society. Kelley ultimately suggests that as these technological advancements outpace our needs, they may directly affect our actual human advancement. While we continue to innovate newer and better technology, it becomes our responsibility to navigate its repercussions as they can cause damage to our ethics, society, and privacy.

Possibly the biggest misconception about our relationships with technology is that we think technology is making us smarter. In reality, however, it has transformed our intellectual capabilities significantly, and not necessarily for the better. Ian’s quote from his essay touched on this. “ Technology has altered our intellect for the worse. There is a common misconception in the world today, that we’ve gotten smarter. That narrative is false. We aren’t as smart as we used to be. Our computers are smarter” (Ian 1). Ian’s quote ultimately suggests that technological advancements have signified our growth as humans intellectually. In hindsight, this increased dependence on technology and its presence has created a misconception that we are evolving and growing with it. This dependency can impact us negatively as it affects our problem-solving, critical thinking, and the ability to retain knowledge as technology fills these gaps for us. In essence, we need to be mindful of how we integrate technology into our lives as it may affect our cognitive development.

In my interpretation of my classmate’s essays as well as Kelley’s, I came to the realization that though technology is an inseparable part of our lives, we need to have a positive and appropriate relationship with it. Awareness is a critical first step to avoid succumbing to technological distractions. By fostering this relationship we need to make sure we set boundaries and avoid the negative impacts of technology. While technology no doubt has its benefits, an excessive reliance on this relationship can lead to addiction, social isolation, and decreased productivity, overall, affecting our mental, and physical health. With its inevitable enhancing future we must be optimistic and capable of learning as we learn to nurture our relationship with it and remain who we are while accepting its important and beneficiary roles in society.

FINAL DRAFT

Alex Yeaton

Jesse Miller

English

06 October 2023

Technology Essay Part II

Technology’s profound and universal influence on society is responsible for touching upon various aspects of our existence and well-being. Technology has reshaped how we communicate, interact, work, and navigate the world around us. With each stride in which technology evolves, it will continue to play a major part in our lives. In Kevin Kelley’s essay, he captures this, “ I don’t know whether this ugliness is a necessary stage of the technium’s growth, or whether a smarter civilization than ours could have tamed it earlier, but the arc of technology’s origins from life’s evolution, now accelerated, means that technium contains all of life inherent beauty – waiting to be uncovered” (Kelley 6). This quote integrates the idea that there is a fascinating aspect of technology in which it plays an important role in human evolution and also has a sense of naturality and beauty as its abilities can reshape society, culture, and human experience. But as our reliance on such technologies continues to increase every year, are there adverse effects? Do we let technology consume too much of our lives and play a significant role? In Siobhan Smith’s and Ian Grimm’s essays, they very deliberately warn of human dependencies and other negative influences they can have on us. Considering the known and unknown impacts of technology, it is important to examine and be aware of its impact. By accomplishing a balance and prioritizing enhancing our lives and not replacing them we can take full advantage of its capabilities.

Undoubtedly technology’s most profound influence on our lives is its psychological impact. The smartphone, for example, changes our behavior, relationships, and emotions in countless ways. Especially with the newest addition of apps like social media. Two different essays that I believe both capture this same idea were Siobhan Smith and Ian Grimm. One of Smith’s most compelling claims was, “ There are so many friendships currently being destroyed by the internet because of false rumors traveling on the web. This makes it so much harder to trust people because you never know what they could be posting or have the opportunity to share on social media,” (Smith). I strongly agree with Smith’s quote, because it is hard to believe that such a powerful tool has been used to hurt us. Very similarly, Grimm had the same perspective, “ With technology continuously advancing it is harder and harder to differentiate reality from fantasy. As each day goes by, we are constantly being disassociated with the real world, and dragged back into the fake world, the online world, which in reality is just some computer script on our devices that we constantly stare at,” (Grimm). In Grimm’s quote he generates the same idea, the idea that there is a fantasy world associated with the internet. Both of these quotes encapsulate the reality of the internet as it has been an online world that has created distrust and dishonesty with people all over the world or even our closest friends.

In addition, to technology affecting us psychologically, it can also cause addiction, which in turn can affect social isolation and social awkwardness. Though it may be hard to believe there was a world where there was no such thing as a smartphone, people still conducted their lives without the necessity of technology. In Grimm’s essay, he mentions, “ 70 years ago the average amount of time an American spent looking at a screen was 0. Today it’s 10 hours,” (Grimm). It’s hard to believe that we have grown into a world where people wouldn’t know their left from their right if there wasn’t technology there to help them. Yes, it is an exaggeration but it also isn’t very far from the truth, this dependency has created an addiction to our lives and no longer gives us the need to accomplish certain tasks. To build on Grimm’s quote, one of the scariest things about this addiction and technology presence is its ability to affect us physically and mentally. Kelley provides an example of this in his essay, “ For some infraction, they grounded her. And to reinforce the seriousness of her misconduct, they took away her mobile phone. Immediately the girl became physically sick. Faint, nauseous, and so ill she couldn’t get out of bed” (Kelley 1). This quote proves that the addiction caused by smartphones is damaging, and until we limit how many times we look at our screens daily we will lose our engagement and lose touch with the real world. Considering both factors from Grimm’s and Kelley’s essays and their belief that technology consumes way too much of us, I believe it is pivotal to be mindful of how much and how we use technology as they have both given very reasonable examples of how technology can separate us from each other.

In “ Technophilia,” Kelley very extensively addresses that technology has the potential to extend our outreach into the universe and enhance human intelligence to limits we could never imagine. But as this technology evolves he warns that we must be more responsible and optimistic about technology’s future as it can deter its good intentions into bad. “ Today, at the start of the 21st century, there are tens of millions of species of tools and technologies loose in the world. Assuming a modest increase of only 5% additional new tools and kinds of artifacts every year, by the end of the century our planet will be overrun by manufactured possibilities” (Kelley 6). For Kelley, this quote speaks to technology’s most recent advancements in the 21st century, and its ability to push the boundaries of humankind. He suggests that with this 5% increase in tools and artifacts, technology is outpacing us and essentially is too much for humans. This quote feeds into one of Grimm’s quotes, “ Technology has altered our intellect for the worse. There is a common misconception in the world today, that we’ve gotten smarter. That narrative is false. We aren’t as smart as we used to be. Our computers are smarter,” (Grimm). Grimm’s quote ultimately suggests that technological advancements have signified our growth as humans intellectually. It also suggests that the biggest misconception about our relationships with technology is that we think technology is making us smarter. I can strongly agree with both of these quotes that technology’s growth might be too much for humans to withstand. I firmly believe this because technology has truly dumbed us down and we have yet to catch up with its abilities, and with the fast pace and innovative money-seeking companies in this world, it might never happen. If we never learn to control the technology in our lives and avoid it from affecting us physically and mentally unintentionally it will diminish our intellectual capabilities, health, and overall knowledge.

For a generation that has been impacted immensely on both a global and individual scale by technology, we must embrace a balanced approach in our relationship with it. As I’ve learned through reading these essays, technology is a powerful thing that affects our everyday lives and is something capable of strong implications that can be good or bad. By fostering this relationship we need to make sure we set boundaries and avoid excessive reliance as it may lead to addiction, social isolation, and decreased productivity. Accomplishing this cohesive and positive relationship with technology can enhance our lives in many ways and positively change society. Ultimately, we must strive to find this balance and be optimistic and capable of learning as we learn to nurture our relationship with it and remain who we are while accepting its important and beneficial roles in society. With this relationship, who knows what technology will bring us?

Works Cited

Grimm, Ian. “Technology Essay.” UNEportfolio, https://miller-eng110.uneportfolio.org. Accessed 26 September 2023.

Kelly, Kevin. “Technophilia.” The Technium, kk.org/thetechnium/technophilia/. Accessed 06 October 2023.

Smith, Siobhan. “Technology Essay.” UNEportfolio, https://miller-eng110.uneportfolio.org. Accessed 06 October 2023.