Modern Technology : For better or for worse?
Rizaline Luna
Ms. Klein
Composition
8 May 2014
Modern Technology: For Better or Worse?
When it comes to the topic of the impact of digital devices or modern technology on society, most of us will readily agree that technology has positive and negative effects on our social and personal life. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of does technology control us? Whereas some are convinced that we need to embrace the technology, others maintain that we are living too much in the virtual. While still others are concerned about how we lose sight of the reality because of technology’s capability to make it happen.
Andrew Lam, a Vietnamese journalist and a short story writer makes a point in his article "I Tweet, Therefore I am" about how technology is drastically changing the way we look and react in our society. One of the examples he uses to clarify his point is about the professor who collapsed while preparing to give a lecture. Lam said, "Instead of helping him, many students in the audience took out their cell phones, snapped photos, texted and tweeted" (Lam 1). The students wanted to be the first one to spread the news so that they could gain popularity or feel proud of themselves for having the power of recording the extraordinary event that just happened. As we try to be the first one to tell the news, we don 't realize that we are losing our empathy. The students sure did feel badly for their professor, but their first reaction was that they have to record it instead of giving a hand or calling an ambulance. I understand why the students reacted by taking pictures or videos of their professors, because I also had those times where I witnessed some unusual happenings and the first reaction I felt is that I have to take pictures of it and share it with my friends by posting the pictures/videos in social networks I am using. I also understand why Lam is concerned about this, but this is a reality that automatically happens as we
Ms. Klein
Composition
8 May 2014
Modern Technology: For Better or Worse?
When it comes to the topic of the impact of digital devices or modern technology on society, most of us will readily agree that technology has positive and negative effects on our social and personal life. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of does technology control us? Whereas some are convinced that we need to embrace the technology, others maintain that we are living too much in the virtual. While still others are concerned about how we lose sight of the reality because of technology’s capability to make it happen.
Andrew Lam, a Vietnamese journalist and a short story writer makes a point in his article "I Tweet, Therefore I am" about how technology is drastically changing the way we look and react in our society. One of the examples he uses to clarify his point is about the professor who collapsed while preparing to give a lecture. Lam said, "Instead of helping him, many students in the audience took out their cell phones, snapped photos, texted and tweeted" (Lam 1). The students wanted to be the first one to spread the news so that they could gain popularity or feel proud of themselves for having the power of recording the extraordinary event that just happened. As we try to be the first one to tell the news, we don 't realize that we are losing our empathy. The students sure did feel badly for their professor, but their first reaction was that they have to record it instead of giving a hand or calling an ambulance. I understand why the students reacted by taking pictures or videos of their professors, because I also had those times where I witnessed some unusual happenings and the first reaction I felt is that I have to take pictures of it and share it with my friends by posting the pictures/videos in social networks I am using. I also understand why Lam is concerned about this, but this is a reality that automatically happens as we
Cited: Lam, Andrew. "I Tweet, Therefore I Am". Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012 Print. Turkle, Sherry. "How Computers Change The Way We Think". The Writer 's Presence. Ed. Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin 's, 2012. Print.