Andrew Murphie and John Potts claim that technology has improved society. However, not all agree. Opponents of this thought feel that technology is making us more individualistic. So, I ask you-do you think that our culture is experiencing a "tyranny of technology"? Do you feel that technology has helped/hurt our society? In what ways do you think it has helped/hurt? Cite specific examples. (If confused, refer to page 57 in your book)
Remember to get all your blog points you must fulfill the following requirements:
*Respond to initial thread using facts, well-thought out ideas, and examples
*Comment to 2 different people's comments using facts, well-thought out ideas, and examples. These comments must relate to topic and be school appropriate.
Total points possible: 20
Due by 3 pm on October 8th.
Please see me if you have any questions!!
I believe that our culture is not experiencing tyranny of technology. Most people in today's society use technology on a day-to-day basis, whether it's watching t.v. or communicating a friend through texting, e-mail, or social media. Most people aren't against technology and think that technology has helped our society. I would have to agree with them because I believe that even though studies show that technology doesn't suggest that the world is closer together, I think that it is. You can talk to people in a different country with a simple text or e-mail. I also have the same thoughts that Murphie and Potts do. I believe that technology has improved peoples' lives because it opened up many different job opportunities, such as web page designer.
ReplyDeleteLets be like the Mennonites!
DeleteI agree with you Ruthann. It does bring the world together because communication is so much easier with phones and social media sites that you can stay in touch with who ever you want.
DeleteI agree in a way with you Ruthann that Technology isn't all bad. I like being able to skype my sister and be able to call my mom when she is in japan with minimal effort, but as you said that technology has opened up many jobs they have also eradicated many jobs also. For example there used to be thousands of switch board operators but they no longer exist. There are many more jobs that have been pushed out but I believe the number of new and old are almost balanced, but probably more jobs in the past. I believe everything has its good and bad and you can definitely say that about technology.
ReplyDeleteThe reply above was supposed to be for ruthann's comment idk wht happend
DeleteWE DUMB!
This is where my idea that things are not without their good and bad sides come into play with what both of you are saying. I agree with Ruthann in that technology has definitely made us closer and also opened up new job opportunities which ultimately improved some of society. Also, I agree with you Floyd that technology has also removed many other jobs-removed more from the past than has opened up new ones. And the problem is is that within the next probably 30-50, maybe even 100 years, there will be so many more advancements in technology that there will be machines and robots doing all the work and humans will have even fewer job opportunities...a point I should have made with my post about how our culture's experience a "tyranny of technology."
DeleteI wish there were no jobs then there would be nothing to do other than sit on a beach and watch the waves roll in with my sweetie pie (We just haven't met yet. SHUT UP!)
DeleteOh man Floyd, I thought that my post was long, but yours has topped the charts. I agree with you somewhat. We should be happy with what we have, but these new technologies make our lives a little bit easier, better, and cheaper. For example, fuel economy cars that get a lot of miles to the gallon, they are saving us a lot of money on fuel. Technology has brought people closer and made it easier for them to seek out their friends and make plans to hang out. Just because people use technology doesn't mean they are being anti-social and doesn't always have a negative effect on today's society. Just think, those binoculars you wanted to use today, they used to be a high-class form of technology back in the day, and your car that everyone thinks is crappy is a form of technology. So technology has made everyone happy and has helped the country in one way, shape or form.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I don't think that technology is not all bad. But with new technology it makes it easier to talk to people without actually being "sociable" and going out to talk to our friends. For an example, You can sit at home on a friday night and text someone if you need help on homework instead of having to go to the library and have study dates. I also believe that technology is killing relationships. Social networking sites and texting. But it will make it easier to talk to your family while your in college. So I agree and disagree with Murphie and Potts.
ReplyDeleteThank you for agreeing with me that new technology makes us less social. Take that Ruthann
DeleteShe didn't say that it was making us less sociable Floyd. She just said that we could talk to people without being "sociable." She meant that we can talk to people, which is considered sociable. without having to talk to them in person. That's why she put sociable in quotations because the term sociable can be interchanged and everyone perceives the word differently. Like you for instance think that sociable is face-to-face communication and I on the other hand consider any kind of association with a person sociable.
DeleteTrue, the term 'sociable' is interchangeable with its meanings just as you said Ruthann. Floyd views being actually sociable as having face-to-face contact, however, I believe he has no problem with texting people and as he said in a previous comment that he loves being able to skype his sister. Video chatting, to me, is the middle ground for the interchangeable meaning of being sociable...wouldn't you agree? I mean it's still using technology but it's technically face-to-face contact despite the fact that it's just through a screen. As Tailor has said, technology has made us less "sociable" - with Floyd's definition, I agree completely. With Ruthann's definition of just being able to communicate with someone, technology has definitely made that a lot more easier and efficient. Kudos to Tailor for bringing to light this idea. (:
DeleteYes people do not have the same social skills as they used to, which is making society unsociable. When people forsay go to a job interview and used to relying on social media people are not going to be prepared to talk to the person that is interviewing them causing you to not get the job. So yes technology is not bad but there needs to be a limit to it, because you look around in public areas and all you see is people on their phones. People need to be more social.
DeleteI think only talking about the impact it has on your social life isn't enough to make a judgment. There's so much more to the topic than just whether you talk to your friends in person or not. I do agree with what everyone's saying about that I just don't think it's the most important issue. Many of the things we enjoy and take for granted everyday such as lighting and clean water are because of some technological discovery.
DeleteI agree not all technology is bad but the rate of advancement and how much we rely on it can be very detramental and makes our chance to be at the top of the food chain less possible. Cars used to do pretty good mpg wise in the 80's with VW diesels but new technology reduces the amount of diesels that can be operated in the US due to EPA standards. As i said before there is good and bad in everything.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that we are experiencing a "tyranny of technology" because technology enables us to live better lives. Technology is doing this because it enables people to stay connected with others through email, texts, and social media sites. Another way that technology has helped society is that it helps spread ideas between strangers like during the arab spring and the overthrowing of dictators between people who otherwise would never have met. The only bad thing about technology is that kids who grow up texting more than they are talking to kids their own age have been shown to be more socially isolated from their peers. Because of these things I think that technology is good as long as a certain limit isn't passed until a person has matured enough that it will not affect their development.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/18--Social-Isolation-and-New-Technology.aspx
I agree with you very much Aaron. The Arab Spring would not have occurred the way it did if it wasn't for social media. Also I agree that everything does have a limit and we must stay within the boundary or the privileged of getting close to the line will be taken away and the boundaries will get narrower and narrower.
DeleteI believe that our culture is experiencing a "tyranny of technology" in that with the advancement of technology, there has been an advancement in what's shown in the movies and TV shows. TV has been able to morph some pretty gruesome stories about killing people and how to do it and get away with it which is not exactly something people need to see/know how to do in today's culture. It's only allowed for more violence and gruesome murders nowadays. Also, technology has so warped our minds so that some people just feed off of it and don't think for themselves just as Neil Postman suggests-it's a rather valid point. Technology allows for all these mindless video games that are about killing people -promoting even more violence! In this way, I think that technology has hurt us and our culture. However, I do believe that technology has also helped improve our society, just as Murphie and Potts said; by allowing us to communicate with other people around the world, be aware of different cultures and incorporate their ideas with our own. Technology has definitely helped shape a new life for us and has changed our culture and just like everything else in life, it is not without its good and bad sides.
ReplyDeleteI like how Alexis brought up video games, and I would like to add that because of all the new technology, such as video games and television children are not getting the physical exercise they need. People will sit and play video games all day or watch tv instead of going outside and using their imagination. So in a sense you could say that technology plays a role in the obesity problem in America.
DeleteWhile I agree with Andrew Murphie and John Potts up to a point, I feel that there are some negative aspects to technology as well. Technology is a wonderful creation but with technology comes a lot of power. Technology allows people to have information at their fingertips. People can get on the internet and find the answer to their question in a matter of seconds, which is an amazing thing but is it dangerous? Look at the Boston Marathon Bombing, a young adult constructed a bomb by using technology because the information was so easy for him to access. Because of technology society was put into danger. Even though technology is very beneficial thing and allows people to have the answers at the tip of their fingers, how much is too much?
ReplyDeleteIn the US we don't have a Jihad Build Your Own Bomb page in our magazines like they do in the middle east.
DeleteI agree with you Morgan. Our society has been put into danger. Not just because of technology, but because of mass media too. People have access to the news of all the dangerous things in the world allowing others to portray the same concepts. Just think of all the school shootings that have happened in the last year. Some of them we haven't even heard about. They all started after the Sandy Hook shooting. The media allowed others to see the dread and terror it caused others, making some want to go out and do the same things.
DeleteI agree with you a lot Morgan. Even though people think all their information is safe it really is not. Anyone can see anything if they know how. Also to ad to that people are hacking other people's accounts and stealing their information to steal their identity. So I too believe that technology is a great useful invention, it can also put our society in danger.
Deletehttp://www.teachhub.com/how-technology-changed-learning
DeleteI also agree with you Morgan. I didn't think of technology as that powerful but with that in my mind I guess technology can be a little to much. People now a days can do anything with technology and not everybody in the world will use technology for the best some will use it for the worst.
DeleteI think you have a good point, but I do not believe that only technology is to blame for the Boston bombing, or any other national crisis for that matter. Yes maybe technology helps these things along, but there is obviously some mental issues going on with the people that decide to do this stuff. For instance me or you could look this stuff up and commit an act like that, but we are not going to because it is wrong. The mental state of the person is more to blame for this, and if they really want to hurt someone, they will find a way even without using technology. People were making bombs long before they could look something up like that on the internet.
DeleteI agree with you Morgan that technology has both good the good and the bad. It is nice to have the information at your fingertips when you want to find a new recipe to try or you have a research paper to type but it can also be dangerous if you are using the information you find for dangerous activities like bomb making. It is not always that the technology is dangerous but how people decide to use it that is dangerous.
DeleteI think technology has both helped society and hurt society. Technology has benefitted our society in the sense that we can do more things with movies, music, medical stuff and it makes everything easier. On the other hand it is pulling families apart instead of families talking and telling about their days they sit there on their phones, iPods, and laptops. I agree with opponents of Murphie and Potts, when they say technology is making people more individual. I do not think our culture is experiencing a "tyranny of technology.” I do feel that instead of talking in person and conversing with each other, we do it over the phone whether it is texting,Tweeting, Skyping, on Instagram, or a phone call. This to me is not good because I believe it is making people less social because we are more afraid to confront people about things since we are so used to doing it with technology where you do not have to confront that person. Studies have suggested that our society is closer from the social media and it agree, but we are closer through technology. We do not actually know that person just what they say they are over Twitter or Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI believe what you say is true that technology is bringing families and even friendships farther apart. Also i believe that people do not really know each other truly through social media because as reading profiles or bios you have your own way of interpreting what they are saying, when really if you ever meet them in person they can be a whole completely different person. So yes technology is good, but hurts your social skills.
Deletehttp://elitedaily.com/life/why-social-networking-makes-us-less-social/
DeleteI completely agree with you on technology pulling families apart. An example of this is when you're at a restaurant and you look over at the other groups of people and almost all of them have their cell phone in their hand or within reach. It truly does hurt people's social skills because they are so use to looking at a screen, they don't know how to act when they're face to face with someone.
DeleteI agree with this. I think you can look at it on a large scale and a small scale. On a large scale technology has mostly helped society. As a whole our lives have been made easier by all the things that technology has provided us. However when you look at it from a smaller scale perspective maybe its not such a good thing. Like Lauren said people spend a lot of time watching TV or on the internet and there's less social interaction between individuals. So it's helped in one way and hurt in another. It just depends on which you think is more important.
DeleteI believe that our society is not experiencing a tyranny of technology completely. Yet our society is experiencing this though because every job and about everything you do in our society on a daily bases requires you to use technology, whether it’s a computer or phone or any other type of technology. With all of this technological upgrades I believe that it has benifited our society like Andrew Murphie and John Potts had said but I also believe that it in a way hurts our society. Ways that it has helped our society is that it helps us in our jobs by working more efficently, "improves areas as diverse as healthcare, education and crime prevention." Ways that it is hurting our society is that people are to tied up in their phones laptops and other forms of technology, it is also hurting our eye sight from staring at a bright screen for long periods of time. Also with certain forms of technology people are losing social skills because they only know how to communicate over electronic devices, so when they are face to face it is different. Today's upgraded technology has both hurt and benefited our society.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/smarter-cities/smarter-cities-new-technology-social-improvements
I agree with you completely because it is true that almost every job requires you to use technology and even if people say they do not like technology a lot of them probably couldn't live without it. Like when the power goes out nobody knows what to do. They do help people to be more efficient with their work. I too wrote about technology ruining people's social skills. It is called social media, but really it gets us into the habbit of not confronting people, so when we get to that point where we have to confont people we get scared.
DeleteI agree with both Laurens that the use a social media has made people have poor social skills when it comes to confrontation with other people. Like, when people have an interview for a job they can write a letter on the computer easily or call to make an appointment but when it comes to the actual interview and having to talk with someone it scares the crap out of people and they get really nervous.
DeleteI agree with you that technology has both helped and hurt our society. I like how you pointed out that most jobs now revolve around the use of technology and that there is really no way to avoid it in our everyday lives. People that don't understand how it works are forced to learn because it is everywhere we go. It could also be hurting our social skills though because people are always wrapped up with their phones that they forget to look around and talk to people.
DeleteI agree with Murphie and Potts that technology has improved society. I do not think that our culture is experiencing a “tyranny of technology” because I believe that most people still want to go out and see people in person. Technology has just helped bring people closer together without actually physically bringing them together because a person can keep in contact over the internet or with their phone. It just makes it easier to keep in touch with people. I think it has greatly helped society in many ways such as the GPS. It is able to take you anywhere you would like to go, to see anything you would like to see. People now have the ability to find almost any information they would like to find.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the GPS helping our society greatly! I could only imagine how lost I would be if I didn't have that in my car because the paper maps are so hard to read and understand. I also think that technology does allow us to be able to communicate easier with people and has made a lot of things easier to find.
DeleteI forgot about the use of technology in our cars. I think that is a good point. With GPS it can really help people who travel a lot because people are not as likely to get in an accident, because they will not have to look down at a map. Plus it does make finding locations easier.
DeleteI agree that the GPS in cars can help people it can also be a disadvantage to people also. A GPS may not always work for you if the signal cannot be found and for some people especially people of an older generation who grew up with out this technology it may be very frustrating for them to figure out how it works and it may end up being more of a liability than an asset to them.
DeleteIn my opinion, I do not think that our culture is experiencing a tyranny of technology. The culture we live in is experiencing this because everywhere you look technology is there. People use technology for their jobs, schools, and even house work sometimes. We have technology everywhere whether it is your phone, TV, or computer it’s something you cannot get away from. I believe the use of technology has benefited our culture like Andrew Murphie and John Potts had said because I think technology makes it easier for people. Technology helps people improve and allows for efficient work, like in our schools teachers use technology to help kids learn and improve. In factory’s people depend on technology so they don’t have to lift or work as fast which technology is a big factor in that case. Also with the ability to use technology people from all over our world can talk to each other in a couple seconds, which can really save people money and time.
ReplyDeletehttp://science.blurtit.com/595901/what-are-the-effects-of-technology-on-society-in-terms-of-social-culture
I agree with you that are culture is not experiencing a tyranny of technology but when you talked about technology being used in factories it is good to use machines so people don't have back trouble but because of the machines taking over lots of people have lost their job to a machine or robot.
DeleteI agree with Murphie and Potts that are society has improved because of technology and is not experiencing a tyranny of technology. Just looking in the medical field technology has made miracles for the people who have had a heart attack and needed a pacemaker or needed stents in their hearts. Imagine giving manual CPR on someone and when you would stop there would be no hope, no AED to use to give the person a greater chance of survival. These are some of the aspects that technology has helped improve but there is also a negative side to technology advancement. Such as meeting someone on an online dating site instead of getting out and being sociable outside of your bedroom. People could actually be going on real dates instead of staying in with their computer. Or meeting new friends online through facebook or twitter people could make new friends by getting out and going to the movies with friends or doing a sport with friends. Over all I think technology is a good thing because it makes things more efficient and less time consuming.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eucomed.be/medical-technology/value-benefits
I agree with you that through the medical field technology is a huge advantage but I disagree that using it to socialize and meet new people is a bad thing because for some people who have to work a lot and do not have a chance to go out a lot this may be their only opportunity to interact with someone that is not a coworker of theirs. Also online dating may be advantageous to people who may have a difficult time going out and meeting new people because they may be to nervous or have some type of anxiety.
DeleteI agree with you that technology makes things more efficient and less time consuming because it does butI think though that there is some things that we should do the old fashioned way like dating. I don't think people should meet people online because you never know who they are going to turn out to be.
DeleteI completely agree with you, Mikayla. Why should someone go online to find "the love of their life". You shouldn't be online all the time and get out into the real world and actually try being sociable. This is why they have the show "CatFish" because they go online and once they meet them its someone else. People are crazy for even lying about it, but I mean its your fault for trusting them.
DeletePersonally I would not say that our culture is experiencing a "tyranny of technology." Technology has come a very long way over the years, and as most people are saying I think there is a good side and a bad side to most advancements in technology. For instance look how much easier technology has made daily life. People no longer have to work in fields using a horse, we have washing machines to wash our clothes, we have vehicles to get us from place to place, and almost everything we use on a day to day basis is some form of technology. Cell phones and internet have made it easier for us to contact one another and know what is going on around us. You can say that it has brought us closer because you can have a conversation with someone that is hundreds or even thousands of miles away. I think it is a very good way to keep in touch with those that you may not get to see very often, and stay close with them. However, to contradict what I said up there I believe technology can be bad. People get so involved in the newest technology, always having to have it at their finger tips, they do not know how to function without it. Technology is hurting children's social skills as well, with being so involved in texting and social media sites, they find it hard to have a real conversation. I just want to say I can't even sit here and type this without getting side tracked by my phone. New advancements of technology in the work place are also eliminating peoples jobs, making it harder for people to find work. Technology may be to blame why the unemployment rate is so high right now. All in all i think that technology has brought much good into our lives, making life easier, but if things keep going as they are I believe that it will get out of hand, and we will eventually be able to say that our culture is experiencing a tyranny of technology.
ReplyDeleteWow Morgan! This is very true. I think that technology will experience a tyranny of technology. I don't think people should be always be on their phones or on computers. Its not letting them go out and actually be sociable. Its just trapping them self in the house all day, with nothing to do but sit and use technology.
DeleteIn my opinion technology has for the most part been beneficial to society. When many people think about this question they only look at things such as social media and how it affects individual relationships, and while I do agree that that could be considered a negative consequence of technology today, it's not enough to use as a basis for an entire argument. This would be completely ignoring all the positive things that technology has done for society that many people take for granted. One example is basic utilities and sanitation. There was a time when people didn't have lights, telephones, or toilets in their homes. Today these are things most people don't even think about not having. Another thing you can look at is medicine. The advances in medicine we have today allow us to remain much healthier and live longer than we ever could otherwise. These are just a few examples among many that show the benefit technology has had. While nothing is all good or all bad technology has definitely been helpful to us and improved our quality of life in ways that we don't even think about.
ReplyDeleteI do feel like our culture is experiencing a tyranny of technology because technology is huge in our culture and everywhere you look someone has some sort of technology on or with them. Although I do think technology has helped our society. It helped because there are so many things we can do with the technology we have now. It makes our lives so much easier. Cell phones for example, we can talk to people without actually having to talk to them in person. We can share a document with people in a different country at click of a button. We can get books on our kindles so we don't actually have to go to the library and go get one. So I do agree with Murphie and Potts that it has improved our society.
ReplyDeleteI love how your posts are well thought out. I've been around a few :) years longer than you and I've noticed the goods and bads of technology. I love being able to log on to Marco's and order a pizza...fast and I don't have to talk to anyone. That's the bad part, we are distancing ourselves from others. We've forgotten how to write a letter..now it is a blog post or a text message. We've forgotten how to spell..now it's all LOL or MYOB. We've forgotten how to talk to each other. This topic can be debated over and over...technology will keep improving, but it's up to the PEOPLE of a society on how they want that technology to impact them and their daily lives!!
ReplyDelete