People who live in today’s world are extremely attached to the technology. In fact, they use their smartphones, computers and access many different online on a daily basis. We tend to live with the technology because it has empowered us? Or are we addicted to the technology? It is the high time to figure out answers for these questions.
Traditionalists and luddites argue that the development of technology has created a negative impact on the society. This fact has been proven from a recent article that was written by Farley Goodman. He has mentioned that the technological development has taken control over the lives of people. Along with the technological development, people have started relying on the technology. This creates massive data dumps, which have the potential to create a lot of economic and political destructions. For example, the leading companies across the world are being hacked every single day and hackers gain access to sensitive information of people. A lot of gaps can also be seen in cyber-security and almost all of them are open to the public. Therefore, people who live with technology are risking their lives each and every day. This argument of Goodman has some grounds. However, we should pay attention towards the other side of the story as well.
Are we empowered by technology?
Businesses in today’s world have evolved along with the technology. On the other hand, technology has helped people to make their lives easy. It has also replaced most of the products or services that we used 10 years back. For example, the electric lighting has put gaslight, torch and candle manufacturers out of business. The technological development is at its peak now. It took about 20 years for Henry Ford to sell 15 million automobiles at the beginning of the 20th Century. However, in 2015 alone, 1.5 billion smartphones were being sold in every corner of the world. This clearly shows how people are attached to the technology.
Several reasons are available to justify the fact that people in today’s world are empowered by technological development.
- It has been identified that about half a million people who use smartphones have a look at their devices at least once every hour. 20% out of them have a look at their phones every few minutes.
- An average adult spends about 20 hours a week with the internet. 10 years back, it was under 10 hours.
- More than 33% of homes in United States have obtained Netflix subscription. An average Netflix subscriber watches content for about 8 hours a day.
- According to the stats of mid-2015, over 100 billion mobile apps have been downloaded from the App Store of Apple.
- Britannica was the world’s most popular encyclopedia 10 years back. However, they stopped printing volumes of it back in 2012 because people started looking for information they want on Google and Wikipedia.
These facts are clear examples to prove that people in today’s world are empowered by the development of technology. Now let’s focus on the other side of the coin.
Are we addicted to the technology?
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published by Mental Disorders, playing online games has been identified as an addiction. The counselors and psychologists have conducted various studies on the topic as well and they have also claimed that it is some sort of an addiction.
People who live in today’s world are extremely dependent on the t technology. In fact, they find it as a difficult task to live without the technology even for a single day. For example, technology has revolutionized the food processing industry and what we eat for dinner is influenced by it. We can even order food at the comfort of our homes and get it delivered to the doorstep.
Is it a little bit of both?
Most of the people prefer to use technology in order to stay away from hassle associated with their daily routines. In addition, it can advance our lives as well. As a result, anyone can say that we are addicted to the technology.
All of us interact with greater amounts of technology than we did about 10 years back. That’s because technology has impacted most of the aspects that we use in our day to day lives. However, people should have a clear understanding about the limitations when using technology. Otherwise, they will be exposing themselves to a variety of risks. However, the prominent benefits delivered by technology have outweighed these risks. To keep us away from the risks, we should figure out our limits and act accordingly.
Should we allow technology to change our lives?
As you can see, technology has created a massive impact on the lives of people who live out there in the world. Due to the same reason, you must be trying to understand whether it has been able to create a positive impact in your life or not.
Technology is in a position to create an impact in your life in a positive way as well as in a negative way. It is up to you to take a look at the facts and get a clear understanding on how you are going to allow technology to create an impact in your life. Then you will be able to get the most out of technology that is available to transform your life into a better one.
You don’t need to hide from technology. Instead, you are encouraged to keep in moving forward with the technology. All you have to do is to make sure that you have a clear understanding about the way how technology is creating a positive impact in your life and stick to those methods. Then you will be able to make sure that you receive outstanding benefits to your life with the help of technology available.