My reality as a cognizant being has always had technology in it. My aunt (appropriately named Techie) is a computer systems analyzer. Throughout my childhood, the computer was always within my reach because I lived with her. I received my first GameBoy on my fourth birthday and played Super Mario Brothers and Tetris. One fateful Sunday, I put my GameBoy in my purse on my way to church. I put little coffee creamer cups in as well, though I can’t recall why (I must have just had breakfast with my parents somewhere). I swung the purse around for most of my morning. By the end of Sunday school, my gaming world was destroyed, half and half had seeped into my plastic box of delight. I remember being able to type in C:/ or D:/ on Windows to play games like Jeopardy, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, King’s Quest or Prince of Persia. Then came Netscape and AOL. It was a thrill to peruse the Internet. I’ve always been a bookworm and spent hours at the library. The Internet was as if the library was available to me in my own home.
Fast forward to the present day and I’ve become completely reliant on technology to assist me. I’ve got my finances in order with the help of Excel spreadsheets and more recently, Mint.com. I check my bank accounts online; I am able to transfer money from one account to another before I overdraw. My extended family is linked together in a google group, which is very much active. My information arsenal consists of Wikipedia.org and ehow.com—my go-to resources whenever my interest is struck by something but there is no accompanying explanation. Parenting would’ve most likely caused an aneurism in a different lifetime, had I been born in an era with no webmd.com and babycenter.com. In fact, just driving around used to be a pain because I am always hopelessly lost—I never know where I am. Now, with GPS and google maps on my iPhone, I easily can get from point A to point B. Online, I order flowers for my mother-in-law on her birthday, skype with friends on the east coast or in southern California, buy Christmas presents so my girls really think Santa got them stuff, find great restaurants on yelp.com, and then reserve seats on opentable.com. I am in a constant conversation with my sister-in-law, husband and best friend through texting. I’ve stopped buying music and movies with the advent of Youtube and Netflix, saviors of my well-being in times of insomnia or (my, guests’ or children’s) boredom. The demand for efficiency and high production and the fast pace of daily life would be insanity without technology.
As is with most things, technology has its’ flaws. Along with the benefits, there exists the underbelly of society.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
In Ways of Seeing, John Berger addresses the fact that art has lost its’ original meaning and intent and instead is a representative of the upper-class continuing rule. The same can be said for technology. It divides the have’s and have-not’s. If you aren’t the proud owner of the newest piece of technology, you are ostracized from modern society.
Society has forever been altered by technological progress. It is a self-perpetuating, neverending continuum—it is never good enough nor enough for that matter. The disparity between social class, economic class, and underserved, underprivileged groups has grown exponentially. In many ways, technology seems to shield the rest of us from seeing the gaps, the injustice. In Japan, most households have 2 or more videogaming consoles, while a staggering 15.3% of the Japanese population is considered living in poverty and hungry on a daily basis. Why have the values changed? Is having the newest videogame higher on our list of priorities than proper nutrition? Another interesting statistic- Japan has a high suicide rate of 34%, quite high among developed countries. Has technology inflated pride so much so that we must put up a façade of wealth, luxury and recreation when really our morale as a people depreciates everyday?
Technology seems to be highly praised and sought after, as if it were a necessary commodity. Shouldn’t technology be a resource, based solely on need? One may argue the case for the production of art, the need for thinking outside of the box. In my opinion, art is usually made from nearly nothing, conceived purely by spark of imagination and an insatiable need to act on realizing one’s visions. If technology were to stop progressing today, art would continue to be produced. It is a matter of human need—the artist is unbound, unlimited. In music, newer instruments are created such as the omnichord and the theremin but why has fresh inspriring music continuously being made with relatively antiquated instruments such as the piano or guitar? The same can and should be said about art. Technological progress seems to be driven by the seeking of capitalistic gain. So, technological progress in fact is partly responsible for the unjust system continuing its’ operation. It goes hand in hand with the destruction of the natural environment, the genocide of the lowerclass, the power gains of corporations as entities that greatly impact our culture and yet are not held responsible for the negative implications caused.
Sure, I am well connected technologically, but where does it stop?