Technology Overdose
Technology, does it control us or do we control it? Technology is becoming more widely spread throughout the world. It has been modified and upgraded to fit our needs throughout the ages of war, disease, and prosperity.
Technology has been a good friend but also an enemy. It comes to our aid in time of need, but also has hurt human kind in ways that can almost not be repaired. Technology’s personality is interchangeable between good and bad, but it’s not the one who changes it. So I ask you, technology, friend or foe. In the novel Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, a mentally challenged 30 year old man named Charlie Gordon undergoes an operation that will triple his current 68 IQ to 204, higher than any man before him. With this operation comes risks and punishments for the choice Charlie makes.
The operation Charlie has is also done on a lab rat named Algernon, who Charlie has become good friends with. The operation is successful in tripling his IQ, but it is also successful in tampering with Charlie’s brain. ” Deterioration progressing, Algernon died two days ago. My predictions were right about the operation effects. I don’t want it to happen to me too.”(Keyes 374).
That quote from Flowers For Algernon shows the effects that technology can have have on the human body. While going through his hard times Charlie has his faithful teacher Ms. Kinnian who tries to comfort him while his intelligence level is dropping rapidly. “I’m forgetting things I learned recently. I don’t want to get dumb again,”(Keyes 375). This quote also shows that technology isn’t always the answer to your problems.
Technology proving it’s case many times before has not always helped the human cause. In the book All Things Wise And Wonderful, by James Herriot, new technology is introduced to the redundant veterinarian clinic. James Herriot is a vet that works at the vet clinic doing his daily rounds going from farm to farm discovering new people and strange medical cases. While helping the family that runs the farm, a cow is having trouble giving birth to its calf.James remembers that the day before the clinic received some new shots, which were supposed to relax the animal in a tense or painful situation and he decides to use them.
The quote “Actually we just got some new shots that will work perfectly” (Herriot 140) shows that just because there’s some new product he decides to use not knowing that it will work. The cow does not respond well to the relaxing drug and sends it into a coma where the cow dies. The farmer is not happy with James because of the bill and his dead cow and calf. When new technology presents itself it doesn’t mean you should use it if you don’t know if it’s safe to use or what bad results will present themselves. In the movie ” Tomorrow Never Dies” a technology based criminal organization threatens to start a small war between the British and the Chinese using advanced technology. The criminals use a satellite to change the positioning of a British cruiser that is actually in Chinese waters.
The criminals fire at the Chinese making them think it’s the British, but also sink the British cruiser to get them turned against each other. In James Bond’s mind blowing adventure he fights to stop this organization from starting World War three with a Chinese agent. The technology that’s involved in this dilemma shows that when technology is used or overused it can be used for many purposes some good and some bad. This theme is also present in history while the world is flourishing in technology and human ingenuity. During the great industrial revolution around the late 1700’s man came up with thousands of mass produced machines that set just as many people out of work, starving and homeless.
The industrial revolution produced machines that could do the same work people were doing, but ten times faster and more efficient. With the new uprising of technology many people died or suffered greatly from the loss of their job due to technology. The great industrial revolution gave the world the boost it needed to get to the age of prosperity and growth, but at a deadly and life changing cost for some people and families. Technology makes life easier and more comfortable for almost all of the people in the world. Ethical dilemmas have popped up in my life many times because of the over use of technology.
I use technology too much sometimes instead of considering different ways to get my work done. I’ve gone on the computer for fun many times instead of doing something more productive like homework or even writing this essay. If I’m not on the computer then I’m either on my phone or my Itouch which neither are good habits to get into. The over use of technology is not just me alone, but also other people in my classes that use their laptops that they get for laptop literacy, but instead they use them to play games during class and getting out of doing school work. When technology gets in the way not many good things come out of it and you could get behind in school or life. To answer the question, “technology, friend of foe?” The truth is technology sometimes seems too good to be true.
Sometimes that’s the case and we spend our time enjoying it and we forget the time, sacrifices, and resources put into making it. While technology has it’s plusses it also has it’s minuses through the events of time as I have explained. At the end, technology is two sided, more good than bad, but if you use it for unnecessary things it can go bad real quick. So be aware of what technology can do for or against you.
