In Matt Richtel’s article, Attached to Technology and Paying a Mental Price, he follows the daily ins and outs of business man Kord Campbell and his family. He describes how the Campbells never fail to have a gadget in hand or some form of technology constantly at their fingertips. They wake up and plug in, spend their days plugged in, and even fall asleep with a laptop or blackberry by their side. We live in a technological age, which is phenomenal. Look at how much we have accomplished and how much technology has made our lives easier. However, is our society developing an addiction to the shiny toys we can’t seem to live without?
Personally, I feel that technology really is rewiring our brains. This is my second year of college, a time when it is of the utmost importance I focus all my energies to my schoolwork. But never in my life have I had such a difficult time staying on task. I suddenly find Facebook ten times more appealing than my Anthropology textbooks and the urge to constantly check my notifications and other messages, tempting. I remember back in elementary school, I developed a love for reading. I read the entire Harry Potter series in 7th grade and never grew tired of it. All through high school, I managed to have my work done on time, read with enthusiasm and could read a book for hours on end. Now, reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is different. Instead of reading over 100 pages in one sitting, I can only read about thirty or forty before I feel the need to do something else. Why the change? These days I have a laptop and a cell phone. I bought myself my first phone when I was sixteen and the laptop followed shortly before I started college. Facebook didn’t even exist for me till I arrived at IUP. I couldn’t believe what I was missing; there was a whole other world of communication out there and it had taken me this long to jump on the bandwagon.
But now I am more aware of my habits than ever before. In order to do my homework, I turn my phone on silent, then place it on the opposite side of the room so I can’t see it, and turn off my computer, unless I absolute need it for research, typing up a paper, etc. This, however, is extremely difficult. It is so easy to just open another tab where Facebook can appear in half a second.
As much as I think technology is a blessing to modern society and has helped solve so many problems, I have to admit, it has caused many others. On page 37 of Richtel’s article, he states that, “Major spats have arisen because Mr. Campbell escapes into video games during tough emotional stretches”. I found this very troublesome because it reminded me so much of my younger brother. Only two years separate us in age, but he understands computers in a way I never could. As much as I find his technological savvy genius, he is also the most withdrawn kid I know. Eyes always glued to the screen of a video game, he is often very difficult to talk to. If something goes wrong, a death in the family for example, he turns to his GameBoy for comfort. He loses himself in this digital world, where you yourself play a character, given many lives and chances to reach your goal, yet none of it is real.
With the constant advances in technology, we must ask ourselves, are we improving our quality of life, or damaging it? As helpful as our gadgets have been, we are now unable to unplug ourselves from the media and the consistent flow of information that is our lives. We are distancing ourselves from what it means to be human. And if we lose that connection, will there even be a future for us?
