by Whitworthian Editorial Board
In a day and age when technology has taken the driver’s seat of our lives, the realization can be made that reliance on it has detrimental effects.
No one would dispute the fact that it is convenient to be up to date with technology. Many people wait in line to get the latest gadgets, updating year after year. We need the cell phones that have the fastest internet speed, the best camera and the most “brain power”.
Slowly, we are relinquishing our ability to think for ourselves and allowing “robots” to rule our lives. The dependence that is put on technology reduces the amount of thinking that we have to do throughout the day. While that makes life easier, it also creates a less well-rounded person.
As soon as we get out of class, we are plugged in. We are looking down and texting our friends as we walk to our next destination, unaware of the people with whom we could be having face-to-face conversations.
We listen to music or watch television rather than talking with our friends and families. We are unsure of how to act in a setting without our technology. We have become brainless without it.
Not only does reliance affect mental activity, it affects physical activity as well. Before the days of technology, people were more active.
Exercise was needed to get through the day and was built into daily routines due to a “do-it-yourself” period of time. Now, however, one can do almost anything from a cell phone or computer, yet we are still too busy to lift a finger.
Theoretically, one does not even need to leave the house to sustain living. At the click of a mouse or the touch of a button, you can get mostly everything you need to lead a basic lifestyle.
According to buzzle.com, technology creates sedentary citizens with a lack of ability to exert physically. Do we want to become a society that fails to think or act for itself simply to make life easier?
Reliance begins from an early age and more and more, we find that it plays into who we are and who we become.
We have three-year-olds playing with iPads, 10-year-olds with cell phones. Children are spending hours a day online, foregoing the face-to-face relationships that are crucial for growth and development. From a young age, people are starting to miss reality. Many components of interpersonal communication are not being developed due to the lack of physical interaction. We are becoming people who do not know how to relate to others.
Technology allows us to be people who are not in tune with ourselves and others. We hide behind computers and phones, networking, socializing and allowing people to “get to know” us.
However, the mere fact that you can pretend to be someone you are not takes away from the authenticity of relationships.
Technology has also affected us on an even deeper level: security. With the birth of the Internet came the rise of scamming, hacking, etc. While the Internet has given way to many wonderful things, it is important to take a look at the other side.
The Internet is an open platform that lacks a lot of regulation and has harmed countless lives due to identity theft and issues of that nature. It allows people to steal from one another, harm society and meddle in corruption.
This board has experienced, firsthand, the wonderful benefits of the rise of technology and values the importance that is holds in our society. It has made life easier, more relaxing and has connected us to the rest of the world.
However, it is important to remember the bad that comes with this rise. We are becoming a society that is unable to act on its own, which creates fear for the future.
All good things should be used in moderation. If we continue to rely heavily on technology, we will get to a point where dependence is our only option.
Contact the editorial board at croach14@my.whitworth.edu