TECHNOLOGY ESSAY

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE

Culture is a broad term. The dictionary definition of culture is "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group. Any of the social forms or beliefs of a group may influence or in turn be influenced by a new technology. Some of the new technologies which have influenced the culture or influenced by culture include cell phones, computer, MP3 player, TV, VCR, DVD player, and remote control. Any new technology introduced into the culture also changes society and its impact on society can be both destructive and constructive. Samuels, Lasn, and Postman in their articles also discuss some of the changes that have occurred in American society with the advent of all the new technologies. They feel that relationship between technology and culture is growing exponentially and advent of new technologies like Internet, Television, and Electronic media has not only greatly affected society, but other areas such as people’s sense of self, health, and education.

People’s life and behavior has completely changed because of technology. Life has definitely become easier with technology; however email, PDAs, iPhones, laptops, and cell phones dominate our modern world. Robert Samuels, Kalle Lasn, and Neil Postman all talk from their perspective the effect of technology on society as a whole. Samuels in "Breaking Down Borders” takes an interesting approach and explains with the help of everyday technological gadgets that people use like cell phone, laptops, iPods, MP3s that technology has blurred the lines between individual’s private and public lives while Lasn in chapter titled "Post Human" approaches from the perspective of an individual and says they are trapped inside their living rooms roaming the “thousand channel universe” and wasting their life. On the other hand, Neil Postman in the essay titled, “The Judgment of Thamus” approaches from the global perspective and says that it is a mistake to suppose that any technological innovation has a one-sided effect. He purports that every technology is both a burden and a blessing and people cannot just have positive outcomes from technology. Even though modern technological gadgets that people use today like cell phone, laptops, iPods, MP3s can raise the standard of living of people it is very easy for people to get addicted to technology. People on cell phones and laptops can become so involved in their own mediated worlds that they forget where they actually are and what they are supposed to be doing.

People who use technology today come from all walks of life and have different necessities. They are making use of technology to make their life easier and comfortable. They are also saving a great deal of their time because of the increased mobility of technology and therefore there is nothing disadvantageous about new technologies, but the problem is in the way that they are used. Samuels states that the increased mobility of technology allows people to “re-center their sense of self by creating what can be called “personal Culture.” while Lasn discusses how people are immersing themselves in online role-playing fantasy games and assuming “variety of personalities, sometime creating bigger and better selves. They often use it to beef up parts of their lives that are failing in the real, concrete world.” Postman on the other hand says “new technologies alter those deeply embedded habits of thought which give to a culture its sense of what the world is like.” So he cautions Americans to carefully evaluate the changes that new technology brings to the society before embracing the same. He also gives examples proving how people embrace new technologies without analyzing the short-term and long-term outcomes.

Health is another important area affected by technology. Even though people today are constantly interrupted by gadgets like BlackBerrys, emails, PDAs, iPhones, laptops, and cell phones they feel lost, withdrawn and anxious without all their gadgets. Samuels explains how because of all the conveniences provided by the new technologies people are multitasking and are not able to concentrate on any one activity at a time which is leading to "a bad case of attention deficit disorder", while Postman talks about how children are deeply conditioned by the biases of television and when they encounter the printed world in school they face "psychic battles" and are unable to focus. Lasn also agrees with the other two authors and explains that use of internet has caused a decline in psychological well-being of human beings, and points out some of the harmful effects of new technologies which includes possibility of isolation, less attention span, no imagination and ignoring real life responsibilities. There is definitely proof that people today are suffering from headaches and insomnia after long days spent staring at the computer screen and television. The constant interruption by the gadgets is also definitely taking a toll on people’s bodies and their mental status. 

One more area affected by the technology is education. Even though technology has changed people’s perspective on education, Postman states that because of personal computers in classrooms, we are losing the “gregariousness and openness fostered by orality.”  Both Samuels and Lasn are also concerned about the effects of technology on concentration. Technology has definitely affected education both positively and negatively. It is much easier for a student to look for information on the internet; however the Internet is also full of garbage and without proper guidance internet can be more harmful than good.

Technology has changed our lives forever as it is made and used in such a variety of ways.It is definately not possible to contain the effects of a new technology to a limited sphere of human activity. Human beings are being affected by technology every day and in almost every way imaginable. It is very difficult to picture our lives without cars, television, and computers. As Samuels says, there is no way anybody can escape the “technological mediated environment.”   Even though technology is affecting society we have to agree with Postman when he says “every technology is both a burden and a blessing.” Every new technology can be an asset to society or it also can be a great destructive force that is determined to destroy the very fabric of humanity. It is definitely very important to think critically about every new technology introduced into the culture if we are to live well with it because technology changes everything. However as new technologies have definitely improved the quality of people’s lives, people have to learn to use technology to their advantage and not let it run their life.