Is Technology Causing Us More Harm Than Good?

With innovations in technology being released each day, it’s fair to compare the digital development rate to the rate at which humans are being born. Each day we are a step closer to some undefined goal regarding how advanced our commodities are; how many pixels a screen can be, or how fast a processor is. Life and our daily tasks have become simpler, quicker, and more convenient with devices that aid us in transportation, communication, and access to information such as cell phones, computers, and televisions. However, these conveniences are causing laziness, loneliness, addiction, and mental deterioration. Technology is at the tipping point towards detriment, as it is causing mankind more harm than good.
The current use of technology has significantly eroded the level of privacy we enjoy. Take the use of social media on smart phones and computers for example—Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram: people use these networks to update arbitrary aspects about their life such as who they’re hanging out with or what meal they had. These details, usually private, become broadcasted to the world by the simple click of “share.” If you take a look at Source G, you can see a sample (2% total user base) of international Facebook connections. International data sharing is almost instantaneous, and often times leaks out information that you do not want others seeing. Source C figuratively depicts what happens when you share something—the eyes of computer users accessing your information invasively glare at you. Data can be shared so quickly across networks, and people often overlook that what they’re sharing might reach someone they don’t want to connect with.
Despite technology’s intent to bring us together, it’s actually tearing us apart. In Source A, Alone Together, Sherry Turkle addresses how technology has offered us substitutes for connecting face-to-face, “They talk about how hard it is to understand family and friends…A forty-four-year-old woman says, “After