Photo Credit: BROCK LANDERS
BY BLUE KAUFMAN
After hours of studious typing, you’re just about to finish that English essay when suddenly the unthinkable happens: your computer crashes. The screen has turned black and the typical dull humming of the monitor is now eerily silent. You’re trying not to panic, but suddenly you are having doubts about whether or not you saved the work. With feeble fingers, you frantically begin fumbling with wires and cords, trying to coax life back into the computer screen. You’ve tried restarting it, resetting the plugs, even begging, but to no avail. It’s gone. And that’s when the sad truth of the situation hits home: how people are completely at the mercy of technology.
Too much dependence on technology is an outcome that has been looming over us for many centuries. In 1818, Mary Shelley published her novel Frankenstein, a tale that warns against the dangers of playing God through science. Shelley wrote about how “a world run by technology, will be destroyed by the very same technology man has strived to create”. Perilous as this may sound, this ominous prediction is well on its way to becoming true.
Since the beginning of our existence, mankind has been making tools to improve life. These advancements can be traced back to Darwin, Newton, Huxley and even philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. Their scientific discoveries about abstract knowledge led to innovative breakthroughs like the scientific method and the theory of evolution. However, during the industrial revolution, academic pursuits about the physical world withered away and took a back seat to technology. On the cusp of the economic boom of the 1950’s, the concept that objects could be applied to everyday life consumed the minds of inventors. Now, as we transcend further into the 21st century, the terms science and technology are so intertwined that it is difficult to refer to one without the other.
During the 19th century, we were crowned with inventions such as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and Thomas Edison’s light bulb. These creations have so significantly augmented our lives that we could not possibly imagine living without them today. But with these advancements came a price: the decay of society as we know it. Most of us can’t spell correctly. Why? because we have spell check. We’ve become lazy. Why? because of transportation systems. Why would we walk somewhere when we could ride in a car or bus?
Despite the fact that man initially created it, technology is now so fast paced that it well surpasses the knowledge of an ordinary person. In fact most of us won’t even walk up to change the TV channel without a remote control. The sad truth is that we now live in a world where according to PBS.org 62% of kids would rather watch TV then play outside. According to NPR, a third of children between ages six and 15 have never climbed a tree, and a quarter have never rolled down a hill or played hopscotch. These facts have no doubt contributed to growing obesity and a social epidemic that has plagued the communication skills of so many. But forget the fact that technology is the culprit behind physical and social plunges; we have become so reliant on it that the slightest malfunction (like a lost English essay) can send us into a tailspin. What would happen if technology were taken away from our world completely?
The idea is not as farfetched as you might think. In August of 2003, a widespread power outage occurred in the northeast region, rendering everyone from Detroit to New York without electricity. Thousands were locked out of hotel rooms and people were unable to purchase necessary items due to the fact that credit card machines were down. Communication through emails, phones, radio’s and TV’s were nonexistent, leaving 50 million “in the dark” for the biggest and longest blackout in American history. However this incident extends further than just a mere inconvenience. The blackout of 2003 led to a surge in house-fires, an economic plummet, and even the failure of multiple hospital emergency generators.
Increases in technology are inevitable, and we could not take them back even if we wanted to. In fact, technology has improved our lives in many ways supplying us with modern medicine, comfortable shelter, and new ways to communicate. Technology is not a bad thing, but rather how we are using it. Too much dependence on technology is dangerous, and if we do not find a way to sever this vulnerability, technology will breed a monster greater than the one Mary Shelley could have ever predicted in Frankenstein.
