Our Relationship with Technology

 

    Technology is something that we all spend a significant amount of time with every day. Whether it is using our phones to text a friend or the internet to look something up, there are myriad things that we have come to rely on to help us function day to day. This reliance is a scary thing, as so much of our lives revolve around technology that we are already unable to function in a day without power. Imagine what would happen on a global scale if we ran out of fuel for creating electricity or something happened that knocked out the power grid. We would be helpless.

    I think that technology is a definite benefit to the world as a whole with how much it has improved our lives. Medicine has made progress in leaps and bounds; industry is more efficient than ever before; people are more connected with one another than was ever possible before. None of these things would have been possible without the invention and creation of new technology. In the medical field, advancements have been made that allow for treatment of poor hearing, being able to see how a bone has been broken with an x-ray, or being able to perform surgery with the help of cameras that would never have been possible otherwise. Some other examples of recent medical advancements can be found here.

    Automation has made production faster and more cost efficient than ever. Companies can produce the products they need shipped worldwide while cutting costs elsewhere. Unfortunately, these costs are cut by decreasing the number of workers on a factory floor. Everything in technology comes with a give and take. In factories, it is expediency at the potential cost of jobs. In a more personal sense, people are giving their information to tech companies, like Google, for their own convenience. All without realizing the potential risks posed by a company like Google having all the data on you that they do. 

    Technology, such as cell phones, can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to being in touch with your family. On one hand it lets you talk to them any time, any where. This is a fantastic thing for people to have access too, especially if that family lives far away. The negatives are that it is very easy to be distracted by your phone when talking to people in person or to only half pay attention as you are thinking about something or doing something on your mobile device. I am guilty of this myself and often find myself splitting my attention between my phone and whatever else I am doing at the time. 

    In the world today with an ever growing and ever improving array of technology, it is important to remember to find a balance between how much time you spend looking at a screen and relaxing in a disconnected way. For me that is reading a book, listening to music, or going for a hike, for others it might be time at the gym or a run. Time like that is so valuable because of how much of it we spend looking at a tiny screen or the bright lights of a monitor. In the end, being able to understand the impacts of technology in all its myriad ways is not something easy to do, but it is something that we should all spend some time looking into. This way we can make sure we are keeping connected with people while also having that interpersonal interaction that makes life so fun and interesting.