Journal Entry #6: "Technology: The Myth"

Journal Entry #6: "Technology: The Myth"

One of the great myths of modern times is the idea that new technologies improve a person’s quality of life. Yet no one has ever demonstrated that access to computers increases a person’s literacy or numeracy skills. Likewise, futurists in the 50's predicted we would be enjoying a 3-day work week by now since machines would be doing all the manual labour. What do you think? Is your life better now than it would have been 100 years ago because of technology?

There is no doubt that technology has had a huge effect on almost every society worldwide. However it’s hard to tell whether or not this is a positive or negative effect. It certainly makes things easier. While we may not have a 3-day work week, we have machines that can do several forms of labour. We have been to space, and have robots that can walk, run, and detect if we’re happy. We are able to communicate with people anywhere in the world through a device in the palm of our hands, and can have thousands of songs at the touch of a button. We can even watch events live as they unfold from thousands of miles away.

But are all these really necessary to make life better? I don’t really know. I’ll kind of battle it out in this journal. Humans are fully capable of doing this labour, and we would have more jobs if they did. There is no necessity for robots that are able to accomplish a single thing, like walking or running, or detecting whether or not we are happy. We don’t need to know about events that are going on around the world if they don’t concern us, and as nice as it is to be able to have luxuries at our fingertips, we don’t need them. On the other hand, thanks to technology, we are able to treat diseases such as cancer, and have cured many other diseases which, in the past have claimed the lives of countless people. I think that, in this sense, technology is improving our lives.

Still, I’m on the fence on this topic. Because I have knowledge of life now, and have read about life 100 years ago, it seems like life now would be better now, simply because there is more to do, and things are easier. Yet some of us have become slaves to technology, such as computers, television and our cell phones, myself included. Most people are surprised when they don’t see my headphones in my ears. One step forward, two steps back I suppose. I’m still on the fence. But thinking about other things, such as cars, I can see why this would be up for debate. Things like automobiles make our time what it is. While we can still walk places, the automobile makes it easier. That’s what technology is, a way to make things easier. We could walk places, but we’d rather drive. We can solve long math equations by writing them down, but we use calculators. We can sharpen a pencil with a manual pencil sharpener, but we use the electric ones. (I could use better examples, yet I choose to look around the room for examples, rather than get up and look, because it’s easier. See!? Technology such as the computer makes us so lazy!)

I’m not really answering the question at hand now, am I? I’ve actually gotten quite sidetracked by things going on elsewhere on my computer screen. None of it is actually important stuff either. This is leading me to believe that technology serves as a distraction. However, I think it may actually be increasing my literary skills, considering I’m constantly reading or typing on the screen. Other than that, and children’s phonics toys, most technology doesn’t really help us improve any of our skills, because it’s simply making things easier for us. It’s like a teacher who tells you the answer, but doesn’t tell you they got it. It’s like Mr. Fraser.

100 years ago, people were content with their lives, and likely the quality as well. However, they did not live in a time like now, and have to reflect on this topic. So, I think I’m coming from a fairly biased view, since I think my life is better because of technology. This is more because, while I can live without it, I love technology and I use it during nearly every waking hour. I’m typing this journal on the computer right now, and when I think of society 100 years ago, I perceive something primitive. I'm not the kind of guy who's built to live a primitive lifestyle. If I were to come from a non biased view, I would say my life is not better because of technology, because we're at a point where we seem to rely on it. However, I am going to have to say that my life is better because of it. I just hope we never reach a point like The Jetsons, where we take everything for granted. "Oh, you want to go to Jupiter for some stupid . . . space dance . . . thing? Sure, just jump in our human sized space-pod, which doubles as a briefcase, and fly there, fly to Jupiter. It should only take about 20 minutes." Ridiculous. Imagine if we took crap like that for granted like we do the things we have now? I hope that time doesn’t come in my lifetime, because then I’ll truly know that my life would be better the way it is right now.