If we were specifically talking about social networking sites, I may have to agree that they have the potential to “dumb us down” only because I think that there are a lot of young people (and even adults) who spend entirely too much time with these social networks. However, I have found that aside from social networking sites, technology is freaking awesome. We are able to stay connected with friends from all over the world, while at the same time maintaining relationships with those that are down the street without leaving the comfort of our living rooms. We no longer have to lug those big Yellow books around to get the number to our favorite restaurant and we can use a search engine instead of checking out 5 different books for one topic. I am particularly fond of the fact that I can send an email instead of picking up the telephone (sometimes you just don’t want to talk).Wired Magazine has an essay written by Tom Harford that talks about Email and its benefits (WIRED ), he argues that email “encourages more face-to-face contact”, while making it “easier to reach colleagues”.
I would argue that the technology is making knowledge more readily available and we are actually getting smarter. How often do you have a conversation with someone and you don’t understand something or you want to know more about it, probably quite often. In the past most of us would have said oh well (because we didn’t want to go to the library) but now we can “Google it” and get a million answers to one question. We are more actively engaged and interested in learning because of all of the tools that are available to us. I think that one of the best benefits of technology is that education is available where ever there is an Internet connection. Soldiers are now able to attend college online while they are serving their country, it’s not only a way for them to get their minds off what is going on around them, but they are bettering themselves! Technology has simply improved our way of living and made it easier for us to access information. Let's be honest, how many of us really checked out books!
On another note...This past weekend I took a trip to Atlanta to see some friends and I was greeted by the gas crisis. Its been on CNN for weeks, but I guess you really don't understand unless you experience it. We live in America and there are people in Atlanta without gas, filling up their luxury cars with regular (only when they can find it), cop cars are stranded on the side of the road and people are calling 911 because they don't know what else to do. Saturday night we spent a little over an hour trying to find gas and when we did find it we waited in line for an hour just to be told we can only get $20. I have never in my life been witness to an elderly woman cussing out a man in a big truck because she believed he was going to cut her in line! This is a real issue, people are literally fighting over gas and there are police officers at the stations just to keep the peace. I guess I'm so in shock about it because we live in America. I tried to take a picture with my phone but unfortunately it's not that great because there were so many lights, but you can get the idea.
I would argue that the technology is making knowledge more readily available and we are actually getting smarter. How often do you have a conversation with someone and you don’t understand something or you want to know more about it, probably quite often. In the past most of us would have said oh well (because we didn’t want to go to the library) but now we can “Google it” and get a million answers to one question. We are more actively engaged and interested in learning because of all of the tools that are available to us. I think that one of the best benefits of technology is that education is available where ever there is an Internet connection. Soldiers are now able to attend college online while they are serving their country, it’s not only a way for them to get their minds off what is going on around them, but they are bettering themselves! Technology has simply improved our way of living and made it easier for us to access information. Let's be honest, how many of us really checked out books!
On another note...This past weekend I took a trip to Atlanta to see some friends and I was greeted by the gas crisis. Its been on CNN for weeks, but I guess you really don't understand unless you experience it. We live in America and there are people in Atlanta without gas, filling up their luxury cars with regular (only when they can find it), cop cars are stranded on the side of the road and people are calling 911 because they don't know what else to do. Saturday night we spent a little over an hour trying to find gas and when we did find it we waited in line for an hour just to be told we can only get $20. I have never in my life been witness to an elderly woman cussing out a man in a big truck because she believed he was going to cut her in line! This is a real issue, people are literally fighting over gas and there are police officers at the stations just to keep the peace. I guess I'm so in shock about it because we live in America. I tried to take a picture with my phone but unfortunately it's not that great because there were so many lights, but you can get the idea.
