By Venisa Anne Xavier
The author of Darkness Left Undone, Carl Henegan once said, "Life was so simple when apples and blackberries were fruit, a tweet was the sound of nature, and facebooks were photo album".
Ever since the introduction of modern technology into this world, no doubt our life has become easier. Indeed one would agree that technology has created advances in many areas and has solved problems, more than it has in the last decades. But one would also argue whether technology truly has aided in solving problems. It is not surprising when there never seems to be a full stop to the ongoing debate on whether technology creates more problems than it solves, which ironically defeating the purpose of technology in the first place.
DOES TECHNOLOGY CREATE MORE HARM THAN GOOD?
In this futuristic world, we are saturated with handheld gadgets due to the rapid growth of modern technology in the market today. Let's face it, we cannot survive without our smartphones, the internet, social networks, and so on. These are likened to our limbs today. Basically we are connected to everyone as Marshall McLuhan predicted in 1964 that ubiquitous technological advances are turning the world into one "global village", and disconnecting from them almost instantaneously puts humans in a disabled position.
Nonetheless, I firmly believe that we have come a long way with our technological advances than we would ever be without them. However, I reckon technology overdependence is going to be a huge threat to our society in the near future. As future and technology are synonymous, we are becoming more of a "technology slave" each day. We ought to control the technology and not vice versa. Ultimately what really matters is, we need to moderate our technological consumption responsibly without compromising our moral ethics.
With that said, I welcome supporting opinions or opposing views that animate debates over the future of technological innovation. In which reminds me of a book titled The Future and Its Enemies, whereby Virginia Postrel urged everyone to "see technology as an expression of human creativity and the future as inviting".
The Future is knocking at our front door!
ReplyDeleteYou do not feel it, you do not see it but it's here.
Technology is impacting our lives, wether you want it, or not. And mostly for the better.
Shift 2020 is this kind of book you need to read. Put it on your bedside table.
What will happen is written.
Don't say you were not warned.
It is undeniable that technology is one of the factors of modernisation that affects world today. We would not be moving forward if it is not because of technology. However, somehow it feels like we humans forget what it's like to be a human with the presence of technology. Sometimes, it is very hard to know someone's honesty or true intention without meeting them face to face with social media and free messaging (Whatsapp, Wechat). Should we ignore our humanity just because technology? It's like we are all hiding behind a black curtain.
DeleteYes, I agree with Nursyazwanie Mohd Noor's statement which we hardly know someone's intention and honesty by connecting with each other only by using the social media and the popular yet free messaging like Whatsapp or Wechat. Sometimes the messages can be ambiguous and easily to misinterpret.Plus, the dangerous part is when you are getting to know other peoples (strangers) from those applications. You never know what unexpected things lies in front you because we cannot easily assumes he/she is a candor person just by knowing through the free messaging. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that our privacy will be invaded. This thing might happen because of the advancement of technology. The smarter one will easily get our privacy information with an illegal way. Even though technology did help us in many ways but without we realized, the misuse of new technology is the key point which bring many harm to us.
DeleteDear Nursyazwanie Mohd Noor and NOR ATIKAH BINTI NASIR.. for your information, honesty is very subjective and it cannot be measure. if you ever watch Chappie movie, then you'll understand why sometimes robots is much more better than human. if robots being programmed to be honest, they will act honest 100%, but humans, even they have been trained to be honest since they were born, got some point they will be dishonest. you know what i mean??.. Some people will only "Love You" as much as they can use you. Their loyalty ends where the benefits stop... :)
DeleteDear Fernandez, for your knowledge, my point here is human today feels the need of SNS more than reality world that used to exsidt before technology came in. It is not just about honesty you see, we sometimes tend to ignore other people when we are too distracted with SNS. And plus, in the movie Chappie, honesty can bring troubles too you know? which has nothing to do with this issue. Thank you :)
Delete#Exist
DeleteComment by Phoebe Chua:
ReplyDeleteI do agree that technology has become so ingrained in our lives that sometimes we take for granted how far we have actually come. Although I do not agree that we definitely cannot survive without our smartphones, internet, social network and etc (there are always other ways to live), it is true that we rely on it so greatly on a daily basis that many of us in this generation have become overly dependent. I think knowing the development of technology; how it came to be and how it has progressed so far, is a good way to appreciate technology but also help realize that humans made life possible even with less technology. So, I suppose having a balanced understanding about technology would the best way to handle it.
Comment by Norzarina Norhidullah :
ReplyDeleteI do agree technology give humans 'facilities' so that every work can be done easily. But, in the same time technology actually teach human to be 'lazy'. Humans always rely on technology on their daily life and sure we can say "they can't live without technology" even thought, like phoebe said there are always others ways to live but actually for those who already being pampered by technology, i sure he/she can't live well. (They can live, but not in the well condition, of course.) Thank you. =)
I'm totally agree with Norzarina Norhidullah's statement that majority of the people today can't live well without technology. Just imagine our live without a phone (no need a smartphone). Can we really live without a phone? Can we just simply rely to the public phone??? (^_^)
DeleteComment by Chung Yee Man
ReplyDeleteIt is undeniable that technology created by human provides a channel for them to communicate with each other. I do agree that technology bringing the benefit to us. For example, human can use the social media connect with those stay far away from them in order to make more connection and so on. However, there is a darker side of emerging this technology. The innovation of the technology cause human tends to rely on the technology. It cause human tend to use it as a companion. It also started violated by human to create difference type of crime. For instance, they utilise the skill of hacking to steal the secrete information. Technology can be useful tools for human and it also can be weapon for a criminal. Therefore, the use of the technology is just up to an individual.
No doubt, everyone agrees with the notion that technology facilitates our communication from one end to another. However, it is a rather unfair accusation to solely put the blame on technology to justify human's irresponsible attitude as per your examples. It seems like, in my opinion, you're implying that one can justify his/her criminal intent just because technology is deemed a "weapon for a criminal". Ultimately, it is up to us how we utilize technology and uphold our responsibility as a wise user.
DeleteAli Baba founder, Jack Ma recently said, “It’s not the technology that can change the world, it’s the dreams behind the technology that change the world." when he paid a gift for the mayor using facial recognition at an IT fair in Germany. I truly agree to his statement. Does technology solve problems or create problems? Well, it all goes back to how we use technology. Technology has helped us to interact with people on the other side of the globe, sent astronauts to the moon, and squeeze all sorts of devices (alarm clock, calculator, torchlight, camera, diary, dictionary et cetra) into one device. So, it is really unfair for us to criticise technology just because there are unscrupulous people out there who abuse technology for their personal (selfish) gain.
ReplyDeleteJacques Ellul said, “Modern technology has become a total phenomenon for civilization, the defining force for a new social order in which efficiency is no longer an option but a necessity imposed on all human activity”. In my opinion, technology certainly contributes a lot to civilization and improves human condition. But, at the same time technology also worsens it. So, every consumer need to be prudent in use it.
ReplyDelete