Essay On Technology And Its Consequences

In the past 100 years or so, technology has greatly exceeded our expectations and given humanity easier, more efficient, and economic ways of living. Technology has given us machines to mass produce food, clothing, and other necessities as well as provide us with treatments and cures for a variety of conditions and illnesses. In light of these advances in technology, we must also be aware of the dangers they pose to our society. With everything else, there are pros and cons to the subject of technology. As previously mentioned, technology has given us ways to make life easier. Conversely, technology also poses such treats to our society, such as a breach of confidentiality and privacy, dependence upon the system, and the reliance on technology can negatively affect our health, to name a few. Special precautions should be taken when implementing a new technology in a company or allowing students new liberties in using technology in class. Technology has given us more disadvantages than advantages.
In Myhre’s article for Direct Marketing News, she reviews how technology has negatively affected our society by one large factor, breaching our security by interrupting our privacy. Technology has the potential to exploit us all as computers, laptops, notebooks and phones keep records of our everyday, private information. Technology has the capacity to store personal information, use location tracking, and track our website browsing. Every word we type into our gadgets in stored on an unseen level. We store personal information on our computers, such as passwords, bank information, and bills. Our computers can track our browsing history and cookies can save passwords, credit card numbers, and addresses. Again, even if we delete these, a computer technology specialist knows a way to uncover these facts by looking at our hard drive. Moreover, all of our gadgets are connected to the worldwide internet. The internet is the playing ground for hackers. It is through our connections to the internet that they hack into our technologies and steal our information to commit fraud and give us software viruses (Myhre).
Finally, technology can pose a negative impact to our health. According to the Huffington Post, our reliance on technology and our use of it every day can have some minor, but also some major effects on our health. One of the most important effects is cyber bullying. There has been more than one new story on cases of teenagers cyberbullying one another, even to the point where one party will commit suicide. Social media gives us the opportunity to share the good things that we experience within our lives. Conversely, it also allows us to compare ourselves to one another and criticize others on what they are posting. Not too far from this effect is the connection between social networking and depression (Holmes). Users browsing different sites, such as Facebook, can see what their friends and family members are doing. This can lead to feelings of loneliness and unhappiness if the user is not involved. Additionally, it has been speculated that lonely users often peruse social media networks, thus burying themselves into more loneliness. Other adverse effects of technology include the development of poor posture, blemishes from holding our dirty gadgets to our face, decreased sperm count in men who often sit their laptops on their laps, sleep disturbances, and the development of addiction (Holmes). Some of these side effects can be reversed if we become more aware of our use. We can think about how we sit at our desks in front of our computers and we can shut off our gadgets an hour before bed so our brains know it is time to sleep. However, some of the more serious affects, such as the negative impacts on our mental health need more awareness in our communities so that we may stop the bullying and improve our mental health.
The growth and development of technology has sky-rocketed in the last 100 years and has given us many amazing technologies, such as industrial machines, assembly lines, cars, home appliances, and the internet. However, with these advantages also appeared disadvantages. The disadvantages are widespread and include the aforementioned negative consequences. However, the adverse effects also go beyond these three examples to include work-related accidents and the inhalation of noxious substances when discussing technologies outside of the internet. We must be vigilant to these affects as we continue to use technology and its machines.

References

Holmes, Lindsay. "Sneaky Ways Technology Is Messing With Your Body And Mind." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 5 Dec. 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/health-effects-of-technol_n_6263120.html>.
Ellison, Briana. "Technology Dependence Decreases Social Skills." The Breeze. James Madison
Myhre, Julie. "Technology Is Invading Our Privacy." Direct Marketing News. Haymarket Media,
Inc., 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://www.dmnews.com/technology-is-invading-our-privacy/article/307471/>.