Unit 1

It is a well known fact for many, that American society has changed dramatically in just the last few generations. American technology has grown and we have become a society that completely relies on our technology to get us through our day to day lives. But has this technology come at a price? Are we smarter with the new technology or has it actually starting to wind us backward?

In my opinion our technology is a double edged sword. In some instances we have grown as a society intellectually because of our technology. In other ways we have become less active and lazy. With regards to the internet, anything you want to know you can virtually find on the world wide net. People that were unable to attend school because of family and work obligations are now able to get a college education because of the new technology. This technological advancement has absolutely made us smarter. Some technologies has made it possible to do higher research on cure for diseases. And others have mengaged the problem solving part of our brain. We also are constantly thinking of new ways to make our lives easier with technology as we move forward in a fast paced society.

As far as the negative impact technology may have, I don’t feel that it has made us “dumber” but in some ways it has made us a lazier society. Rather than talking to someone on the phone, writing a letter, or visiting, it has been made easier to text or email. Rather than walking to the store or to school or anywhere else in the town for that matter we can take an automobile, subway, tram, etc. Lazier would be a better fit than dumber. I personally cannot think of an instance where this new technology based society has made us dumber.

A blog from Dwight Silverman that I recently read up on made the statement that things such as calculators are being used rather than the brain. For this gentleman’s daughters college entrance exams she was brushing up on her skills to use the calculator rather than her ability to work out the math problem on her own. This type of behavior can compromise some mathematically ability, however, you are growing as a person that can use a piece of equipment. Our brain will still have the ability to make decisions and reason regardless of the technology.

Being that we are such a fast paced society we have also discussed in class how we can sometimes miss the details as we just go about our day to day lives. Although the gorilla that just walked right in the middle of the video was fairly obvious, I didn’t take the time to look and see the details of the gorilla because I was t consumed with counting how many passed the people in white made. Sometimes I feel that our society has become so fast paced by means of technology that we all sometimes fail to “stop and smell the roses”

In conclusion, each person can draw their own conclusion on whether our society has a positive or negative impact on our intellectual ability. I believe that it has more of a positive impact rather than a negative one, but that truly does all depend on each person as an individual. There are definitely more benefits to technology, it allows for education that would not have been possible in my parents generation and it allows for quick answers. There is also a degree of problem solving that goes into each new device as you learn to navigate and properly use it.

Blog from Dwight Silverman link: http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2005/09/does_more_tech.html