The Disconnect in the Connected Era
NFlow
The Disconnect in the Connected Era David Goldberg, in his article “If Technology is Making Us Stupid, It’s Not Technology’s Fault” posits that the blame in the deterioration of human intelligence lies not with computers, but with the fashion of their use: “… it is not the technology, but the social conditions of their use that are the most compelling concerns here” (91). We as a society have been thrust into an age wherein there is a gadget for everyone and everything. The responsibility to bend these tools to our will or let them hinder our development is paramount to the success of generations to come and is inherently left to the individual. To place the blame on the technology itself is pure folly. Would one question the tool of a carpenter, or the carpenter’s wielding of it in the crafting of a piece? Goldberg goes so far as to imply that the user may share the blame with his environment when he cites Duke Researchers Vigdor and Ladd: “One interpretation of these findings is that home computer technology is put to more productive use in households with more effective parental monitoring, or in househoulds where parents can serve as more effective instructors in the productive use of online resources” (91). Peer into the average living room and you will see children staring into the screen of an iPad rather than a book. More often than not the content being consumed is limited to “Angry Birds” or whatever game du jour the media is bombarding our youth with. Parents must reassume responsibility for encouraging their children to apply themselves to something of consequence. The notion that technology should be used not just as a medium of entertainment but as a learning aid must be ingrained in children from the earliest possible stages of development. Furthermore, Goldberg brings to attention the fact that amidst the rampant filth available on the Internet, there is much of consequence to be found – one must simply search it out. He quotes
The Disconnect in the Connected Era David Goldberg, in his article “If Technology is Making Us Stupid, It’s Not Technology’s Fault” posits that the blame in the deterioration of human intelligence lies not with computers, but with the fashion of their use: “… it is not the technology, but the social conditions of their use that are the most compelling concerns here” (91). We as a society have been thrust into an age wherein there is a gadget for everyone and everything. The responsibility to bend these tools to our will or let them hinder our development is paramount to the success of generations to come and is inherently left to the individual. To place the blame on the technology itself is pure folly. Would one question the tool of a carpenter, or the carpenter’s wielding of it in the crafting of a piece? Goldberg goes so far as to imply that the user may share the blame with his environment when he cites Duke Researchers Vigdor and Ladd: “One interpretation of these findings is that home computer technology is put to more productive use in households with more effective parental monitoring, or in househoulds where parents can serve as more effective instructors in the productive use of online resources” (91). Peer into the average living room and you will see children staring into the screen of an iPad rather than a book. More often than not the content being consumed is limited to “Angry Birds” or whatever game du jour the media is bombarding our youth with. Parents must reassume responsibility for encouraging their children to apply themselves to something of consequence. The notion that technology should be used not just as a medium of entertainment but as a learning aid must be ingrained in children from the earliest possible stages of development. Furthermore, Goldberg brings to attention the fact that amidst the rampant filth available on the Internet, there is much of consequence to be found – one must simply search it out. He quotes