Technology use and abuse

A major change that has occurred in our world is the development of technology. Technology has been invented to address society´s problems and to fulfill its growing desire for speed and convenience. We “interact” with technologies on a daily basis. However, technology is not always the panacea it seems to be, because it carries a lot of problems with it.

Whereas in the past, technology was a relatively rare ocurrence, in recent times it has become commonplace. Technology has changed our lives forever. A good example are mobile phones. What do many people do (above all, teenagers who are always the most compliant) first thing in the morning? They wake up with their mobile phones’ alarm , and then they check their messages. Other examples are internet (although we already have it on the phone , most of the times), digital tv, digital cameras…Everything seems to be digital. We are in the digital era, the analogical era is past, we will find it only in museums.

An important issue is the consequences of the abuse of technology. We still do not know the real consequences of this, but we do know about the advent of new addictions, obsessions ,isolation and depression among others. Is people happier today than in the past?. In general, I would say so, however we are so full of things that at the end of the day, our life runs so quickly , that we do not stop to think about the happiness in our lives. It is like we are never happy enough, we just want to have more and more and more of whatever is the new gadget in the market.

And what about military technology?. The advance of technology have encouraged the development of new weapons easily and to a lesser cost. Besides internet has facilitated illegal trading, piracy and other illegal activities which cause a lot of money and a lot of lives. Furthermore, many countries spend more money in weapons than they do in education. And not only that, technology has also snatched away the innocence from children in many troubled countries where they are trained to handle guns and machines since childhood. What for?… We can find here one of the main problems with technology. Technology becomes a very dangerous weapon in itself if it is not used wisely or properly.

Other important issue is the contamination and exhaustion of the planet due to the use and sometimes abuse of technology. For example, many people change their mobile phone every few months to the new mobile phone in the market. In our current society we tend not think about the hazardous waste and about the long-term consequences of our actions, we just look at the short-term profits.

Finally , it is worth pointing out that , whilst it may appear technology is the villain in the film, it is not really so. Technology has helped and facilitated our lives in many ways. For example, we can connect with our friends and people in the other side of the world. Weather predictions are more accurate every time, and this helps prevent catastrophes all over the world. Medical developments such as the use of laser. As a result, our standards of living are much better than in the past.