Technology Has Taken Over Society

Technology has advanced throughout the years. So much that society today has started to use it daily. Technology is the usage of techniques, skills; it is a higher system to solve problems. We have depended on it to a point in life we have become lazy. If you were to ask anyone if they could live without technology, they would likely tell you no. I believe society is dependent on technology because people, like myself, use technology for simple duties that can be done by simply using the human mind. Society being dependent on technology can cause mental health problems like depression and anxiety, lack of communication skills, and impaired memory.

Society has been negatively affected by technology from the very first time it advanced through the present day. In the past, people did not have technology that was on a bright screen or had social media like, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. The only way to communicate with others was by writing letters and mailing them or by driving to go see one another, but in the present, you can contact your loved ones by email or messages. At the time it was only used to solve problems like making the lightbulb. Some intentions of the internet are good, but others are not. Nowadays technology has moved from being helpful in being something that we cannot explain fully or power ourselves. Present-day technology has consumed our lives. Society has become heavily reliant on their devices to make life simple and easy. For example, this is seen by teenagers who become addicted to their phones. They buy products off Amazon and websites that deliver to them, which includes food. Families would not be the same if technology advances to a higher level in the future; jobs will be lost, and more families would have to feen for themselves.

As a teenager, you get to that stage where nothing seems to matter but technology like, a phone or a computer. Some of my friends are told by their family members that they are always using technology and cannot go without it; some have denied the fact they use their phones too much. In fact, the average American spends five hours per day using devices like computers and phones, and another four and a half hours watching television. The average person checks his or her phone about 150 times a day. We are born in a generation where everything we have been taught has been from tv, computer, and a phone. We do not know any better, so we depend or get attached to technology. According to the source Emerging Trends in Psychology: Tech Dependency, “Attachment symptoms always include the urge to sleep with a device or have it around more.” The Internet is one of the most powerful pieces of technology the world has ever had. With the Internet, people can communicate at a much faster rate than mailing. The world has gotten so used to being on their phones that if technology somehow stops working, we will have to face the feeling of communicating face-to-face with others. The article about how technology can affect social skills states that technology “can make one less aware of the present physical world around you.” 

Having the ability to communicate with others is an important aspect of our life. The Classical Academy website stated that “the lack of basic phone skills contributes to the inability to articulate or explain anything with a depth of thought and feeling and requires back and forth connection.” [How Technology] Basic communications include eye contact, facial expression, tone of voice, posture and space between individuals. It appears the more you use technology the more you become impatient. As the article How Technology Affects Your Social Skills states that the “human attention span shortens from 12 seconds to eight seconds in more than a decade.” Communication helps build friendships and get jobs. Technology can create social isolation. Communicating online replaces face-to-face communication for some people, lowering how much time they spend in the presence of other human beings. Social media replace strong social connections with others with dull social connections, that leads to situations where a person may have large numbers of 'friends' at first, then lead to having fewer “friends.” A student at Huntington University, Lucas Lengacher, did a study to see how many times one picks up their phone each day; when people are on their device most often, and what applications the user used most often throughout the day by making them download this app called RescueTimes. Lengacher results stated, “almost 60 percent of people felt disconnected from others when they were on their phone, and 88 percent of people felt disconnected at dinner because of people they were eating with using their phone.” 

When you are on technology so much and you start to depend on it, it can cause a mental disorder called depression. Depression and the feelings of loneliness can take place when a lack of communication is in action. Signs of depression can happen when a person does not receive “likes” on a photo or replies to text messages. When that occurs, a person may feel as if they are not loved or if they are too repulsive to look at. People tend to lean on to technology and take it wherever they are to avoid awkward situations. Anxiety or stress can occur in situations where you cannot access your phone. You start excessively sweating; your heart feels as though it is beating out of your chest, everything seems like it is closing in, you feel as if you are going to cry because you are not in control of what’s to come. Society not only is attached to the technology; they also seem to have symptoms of a neurological problem known as Digital Dementia. Like in Jessica Gwinn’s article, Overuse of Technology Can Lead to ‘Digital Dementia’, “Digital Dementia is a term used to describe how overuse of digital technology is resulting in the breakdown of cognitive abilities.” Some symptoms are having anxiety, lack of movement, depression, balance disorders, anger, and uncoordinated movement patterns. This can be reversed by simply using your brain and by doing activities that does not involve technology. My mom always said, “teens are always on their phones. When I was young, we did not have to worry about any of that social media stuff.” Gwinn also states in her article that teens are not the only ones who use too much technology. “A good number of adults are capable of using technology; a constant connection and overuse of technology which can lead to lateralization of brain function meaning the brain suffers imbalance.” 

You could argue that technology has had good results and effects come from it. It can help individuals educate themselves. Mickeel Allen, author of Technological Influence on Society stated how the internet can help people engage with the material they are learning and what they are having difficulties with by giving them access to other resources. The article also stated because the information can be retrieved at a twenty-four-hour rate that it makes students' schoolwork easier. Allen gives insight into the technology that was made within the health industry. She stated in the article that technology has helped people stay safe and healthy and has also put apps on peoples phones that allow them to watch their weight, the number of calories they intake, and their heart rates.

Others who believe that society does not rely on technology also says that they learn better when they work by themselves because they can take all the time they want and because they have the internet to help them. Allens’ article calls it “self-paced learning.” Technology has made it where you can learn from home through YouTube and other social medias. A pandemic has struck this year and classmates and I have been taking online classes instead now. The online classes have not benefited many. When I asked friends how they are doing with classes, some have stated that it has not helped them at all. They went on to say that they are now cheating more than what they did when they were face-to-face with a teacher. My brother has also said looking at a screen all day has made him tired and lazy.

Society has been so caught up in technology that individuals are becoming less aware of their presence and what is happening around them. Studies have shown multiple times that technology not only causes mental problems but has also taken away jobs from others and has made it where communicating in the physical world is difficult without becoming stress, or feeling discomfort. To prevent technology from empowering your life too much; reading, exercise, using your brain instead of the internet, and stepping outside your comfort can reduce the likelihood for an individual to have problems in the future.