Do the Positives Outweigh the Negatives of Technology?

outdoors > indoors

Between 1912-1945, Modernist writers were writing about alienation, fragmented lives (montage), and a lack of past tradition. For writers like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, bringing back the classics was vital. Today, as I observe the conversations I see my friends and even younger generations engage themselves with, I feel sorry for the society we all have become a part of. Starting with ages 7 to 14, there is definitely a lack of innocent fun and real childhood that consists of enhancing the brain through outdoor activities, face to face interaction, games, books, and real quality time with one another.

Has the quality of life become better or worse with the development of new technology?

I believe the people who are best served by technology are definitely making great use of their time and expertise. Engineers, inventors, computer designers and computer professionals are moving forward in the business they love and excel in. Are their accomplishments positively serving their buyers? Have I gained something valuable by being able to use an I-Phone, I-Pod, I-Pad, video-games, and computer games? Or is easy access, speed, light weight and small size making us individuals lazier and more spoiled?

Although the I-phone makes my life easier with emails and urgent communications, there is this dependancy that frightens me. When the thought of misplacing my phone crosses my mind, there is this unnecessary panic. These are the reactions and obsessive qualities that technology has instilled in its users, including myself. Kids no longer want to explore gardens or play ding dong ditch outside, they choose staying indoors in front of the computer.

Computers and new found electronics are making money and satisfying off all of us, great, but there needs to be this balance established by parents from an early age. A child, teen, or adult needs to understand that these machines can enhance the quality of life, but they should not replace life itself. Life is about exploring, living, breathing, and learning new things; not sitting, typing, searching the web and flipping through people's facebooks. It has become absurd how girls look at people's face book pages craving to have eachother's dresses, hair, amount of friends, quotes, pictures, comments, and statuses. There is a constant search for something new that makes the self conscious person feel like they need to step up their face book life in order to fit in and seem "cool." This artificial creation and yearning to be something they are not is seen all through out face book and it is SAD!

Yes, there was a time when I loved uploading albums and constantly exploring face book, - when it was new and unfamiliar to me- but pretty soon it's not hard for someone to sit back as a third person and laugh at the useless time people spend on face book. I leave this as an argument that will never be solved, because pop culture seems to dominate daily lives predominantly. Therefore, I leave it to the parents to take the "back to tradition" advice of Eliot and Pound and find a way to balance the activities their kids partake in.