Blog Post #9: My Place in the Argument on Technology

Personally, I don’t think technology has had a negative impact on my life. For the most part I just use my phone for communicating with people which, in my opinion, has made my life better. When I sit on my phone and try to play games to keep myself occupied, I find observing my surroundings is much more interesting. However, I can easily see how technology has negatively impacted some of my friend’s lives, specifically younger ones. One of my neighbors I hang out with a lot is 13 years old and there has not been a time since she got her phone that I have seen her without it. Not only that, but she always needs to have the newest version of iPhone and MacBook otherwise she isn’t happy. For me, I just need a computer that I can do my school work on and a phone I can text and call on. In his piece “In Defense of Distraction,” Sam Anderson sums up one of his main points as follows: “We are, in short, terminally distracted. And distracted, the alarmist will remind you, was once a synonym for insane” (2). What has caused this “distraction” as Anderson states is the increasing complexity and amount of technology present in people’s lives. Technology is causing people to act in ways that are not natural. People base their lives around their social media profiles and the lives others put out online. Insane, according to most, usually translates to crazy. But in this case insane takes on its actual definition: a state of mind in which lack of organization takes over. People are so distracted from real life by their virtual lives that they can’t keep the two separate and begin acting in real life how they would normally act online. And the reason people are so distracted is because, as stated by Athena in Jean Twenge’s piece “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, “We don’t have a choice to know any life without iPads or iPhones” (2). The presence of technology in today’s society is so prominent that these kids don’t have a choice but to use it. This being the case, can we blame these kids for becoming so dependent on technology? Yes, technology can have negative effects on people when used excessively or dependently however, when use din moderation, technology can be truly eyeopening.