Downside of Technology

The internet can be viewed as the mechanical clock of our time. The clock became a “new model of reality, more efficient, but in some ways impoverished (18)”. There were positive and negative aspects of the clock. They allowed everyone to be united on a global time schedule, yet in a way it isolated the “essential part of humanity (18)” which could be viewed as the emotional or non-rational side. This could be compared to the internet.

One of the many uses of the internet is to allow communication between other people at a faster rate. The mail can take almost a week to deliver a simple letter, but the email can take seconds. After the fad of email, instant messaging arose because email wasn’t fast enough. What is happening is that our society has become more and more dependent on instant gratifications. The only medium that can compete with our lust for instantaneous information is the internet because it is constantly evolving to satisfy us. Along with the need for instant information, comes the desire for efficiency. It isn’t enough that users can receive information fast, but they also need a p lace where they can find and access the information easier. Google and other search engines develop making every users life faster and more efficient.

The downside of the internet is that it mirrors the same side effects as the mechanical clock did. The people who had once devoted themselves to Roman Catholicism drifted away from their faiths because the clock proved that science was emerging and it could be tested where as their faith couldn’t be. The internet causes a drift as well. Relationships are starting to change as more and more people resort to cyber space. People of all ages seem to have become reliant on the internet. Facebook and other communication sites allow for chatting yet it is impersonal. There is no visible emotion on facebook. Things a person isn’t able to say to someone’s face can easily be said through cyber space. In a way the internet has turned out to be isolating when one of its primary functions was to be uniting.

The important part to realise is that technology isn’t perfect. Even revolutionary technology that is designed to help us can turn out to be a hindrance. There will always be side effects and a person has to decide what is more important to them. With regards to the internet, is the efficiency worth the damage that isolation can cause?