Technology. Is it really as good or as bad as some people make it sound? Some people believe the problem with technology is that it makes things easier for people to do, creating less for people to do. They believe if people have less to do they will become lazier, have less effort and have more “free-time.”
I was arguing with a friend after reading the “Luddite vs. Fetishist” from class when she pointed out the previously listed things. She believed technology to be exclusively “bad.” I of course argued that it was neither. I tried to explain technology is named good or bad based solely on who or what is behind it. For example, man created the flying machine, which was a great technological upgrade. Then we see something like 9-11 happen, in which we saw this great technological advancement used for mass destruction. I tried to emphasize that there will be repercussions in technology, but those repercussions will depend in the hands of the people who use them. I also tried to explain technology as a knife as it was described to me. A knife can be used to commit a crime or to spread some peanut butter and jelly on an afternoon snack. The knife by itself is neither good nor bad when it stands alone. An I-pod for example, isn’t necessarily bad when it is on its own, but when people use it as a device to get out of talking to people as you pass by, or to make it more cool to younger children, as they did here, it is measured as bad.
Although I tried to help my friend better understand technology, my attempts failed. I was told that is was technology that drives people to do those “bad” things. So what do you think? Why do you think it seems to be either black or white with some people, good or bad? Do you think it is solely technology that drives people to want the better of it? If it isn’t technology that drives people to want more then what is it? Do you believe technology to bad when it’s unaccompanied or by the way people use it?
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I-Pond Video
12 comments:
I think that technology is neither good nor bad because people are the ones that control it. There is no technology out there that gets into people's heads and literally tells them to go commit a crime or to go do something bad. I don't believe that technology is all bad because the people that say technology is bad still use computers and still drive cars so how can they say it's so bad? With more and more technology being produced not only in this country but all over the world I think that people need to become more responsible and take responsibility for the technology they use. I don't see this happening ever because people are very irresponsible so people will keep on making bad decisions.
I disagree with the main post and the last comment...to an extent. Technology is not purely neutral, as it is developed by humans in a social/historical context. Is the invention of a torture device like the iron maiden neither good or bad, but purely neutral, when it is invented to do a certain thing? It's not like some sort of random event that just happened and joila someone accidently created nerve gas...or the atomic bomb. But, particular technologies have limits to what uses we can put them too "good" or "bad"...it's not like I can choose to use an atomic bomb as a paper weight (i.e. it's neutral) if I'm "good" but use it for evil purposes if I'm "bad." Likewise, an invention like the iron maiden or something like nerve gas has limited applications through which we can establish its/their neutrality. On a basic level an inanimate object is an object, but the second humans are added we use them in particular ways...some limit our use for particular purposes and others may encourage us to use them in a certain way given the lack of options for other kinds of uses.
I think that it is a good thing because look at all the medical advances that you see today! I mean doctors can do almost anything with the newest technology. They can give people new limbs or kill them and bring them back to life. Its amazing. Also i dont think that technology makes us "lazy" because when we want to relax we are trying to get away from technology and just get to life. So a family dinner or a vacation is completely without technology. So if anything i think that technology keeps people going and busy. But i must admit that technology has been used for bad or has done bad things. like car accidents or 9-11. but that is not in due to the technology. technology is just the tool.
I think the ideas behind technology are good or bad and the end result reflects that for the most part. Most of the stuff we use like computers ipods etc. are designed to make life easier and more convenient. The intentions are however sometimes people with bad ideas manipulate it in a negative way. At the same time, inventions that are made to be negative or harmful (like weapons) are obviously not intended for something positive.
I think that technology is what we decide it to be. I believe that is can either be good or bad. Its what people turn it out to be. Humans will eventually get to the point were technology is their sole weapon because they can do it. Technology has no ends and wont be stopped. Great things are going to come from it in the future don't get me wrong, but the same for bad things. Unfortunately we have people in this world who desire to use technology for the wrong purposes, but we wouldn't be humans if we didnt have those people. Its a give and take situation. When it comes to technology you just have to take the good with the bad. Hopefully we can find a way to use to productive form more rather than the negative.
I think that people are naturally scared of what they don't understand. New technology sometimes means making really big changes, and for some that means going away from what you're comfortable with. Although some technology was built for destruction (weapons, bomb, etc.), I think that the majority of technology does and has taken society to a better place than in the past
i couldn't agree more. we are constantly trying to blame our issues on other things, like technology. "it's the media's fault" is my favorite of the bull shit excuses. it is not the technology that defines us, it's us. i like the idea that something inanimate can be neither good nor bad, because it is all dependent upon the person behind the technology. i love the analogy w/ the knife, very effective. i believe technology allows for a perfect balance like everything else does in the world. all we are doing is creating yet another tool for a human's purpose.
Technology is a way to help enrich our lives I believe. But just as everything else in life can be overdone, too much technology can as well.
Your friend has a bad argument. Does she not think there were bad people before large technological advances? Of course there were. It is just if that bad person is smart enough to use technology to their advantage when it is bad in a sense. The technology wasn't bad it was the person behind it. If there was a way to keep bad people away from certain technology that would be awesome, but the only thing that will keep people from using technology in a negative is knowledge. Teaching them what can happen if something is used improperly is the only defense.
I think that technology is quite neutral. People, however, are not neutral. Technology is a device that people have thought up in order to either maker our lives "easier", provide a faster way of doing something, or to entertain ourselves. Most of our technological advances are not, in any way, intended to become destructive or murderous(with the exception of guns etc.). Why do some of these things become that way? I believe it has nothing to do with the technology, but it is actually the people in the world who make things bad. There is always someone out there who will try to find a way to use something new to be destructive. They always need to find new and surprising ways to make attacks. What better way to do this than with technology? Honestly, even if we still didn't have the technological advances that we have now, there would still be violence and human destruction. It's the way we function. There will always be good and bad, and there's nothing we can do about it.
I feel as if some people are letting technology take over their lives in a really big way. Its not as if its all made to control people, but just like a lot of other stuff it can become sort of addictive in a way. Kind of like when I saw a documentery on a guy who played video games almost all day long everyday, it's weird to think that a person could neglect all of real life to just sit inside and pretend through video games. When I think of technology controling people I think of situations like that and kind of cringe.
I found a solution to your knife/Ipod Problem!
http://www.theapplecollection.com/design/macdesign/images/upload_420848.jpg
Hope it helped!
haha in all reality I love technology and it doesn't matter if a minority of people don't like technology because the realism of it is that unless that becomes a majority nothing is going to change in their favor.
live with it XD
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