The Effects Our Dependancy on Technology Has on Us

The Effects Our Dependency on Technology Has on Us In the struggle to keep up with today’s ever-changing technology, is society paying too high a price? People seem to want things now. The internet is one of the most widely used technological advancements available, but are the consequences of the internet outweighing the benefits? Technology is changing the way people think, process information and even the way they act. People tend to want to take the easiest, fastest way to communicate, instead of taking a longer more thought-felt approach. Many articles have been written about this very subject. In Ellen Goodman’s article “In Praise of a Snail’s Pace” she says the way we communicate is greatly influenced by the computer and e-mail. When we send an e-mail we tend to write in a fast, concise and somehow unfeeling manner in our rush to be done with the task at hand and move on to our next project. We feel we must adapt to technology at its speed and keep up with it rather than using it at our speed. Goodman argues that when we hand write a letter using “snail-mail”, we tend to be more emotional. By hand writing we use our minds, enabling us to be more thoughtful, caring, and show that we are really concerned about the person we are writing to, not just a check on our to-do list. An example she uses is writing a letter to a friend who has lost her husband where she states “I am among those who still believe that sympathy is diluted by 2/3rds when it arrives over the Internet transom” (48). Goodman asserts that at those times, a letter is the right choice. An e-mail does not express the same care and concern as a hand-written letter. Hand-written notes give a person our time and thoughtful concern. It is so much more human and caring than a fast written, hurriedly sent machine delivered response. Another example Goodman gives is a mother who communicates regularly with her son via e-mail. The mother “has something serious to say and feared that an e-mail would

Cited: Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Seyler, Dorothy U. read, reason, write. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 376-384. Print. Goodman, Ellen. "In Praise of a Snail 's Pace." Seyler, Dorothy U. read, reason, write. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 376-384. Print.