Title: Technology and Society by Dana Bigelow

Thesis: We have our computers, cell phones, tablets to allow us to keep up with social media,
but have you ever thought of a time when we might not have the use of these things? Does the
idea of not having it at your finger tips make you nervous? Do we rely on technology too much
as a society?
I.

History
A.

II.

Thesis

Computers
A. Effects on Society

III.

Phones
A)

I V.

Effects on Society

Conclusion

Dana Bigelow

Dana 1

Professor Elizabeth Mckinley

English 111
17 April 2016
Are we relying on Technology too much?

A collection of techniques, skill, methods and processes used in the production of goods
or services such as scientific investigation, this is the definition of technology according to
Wikipedia. Throughout history, we have made some huge advancement in the way of
technology; fire, the wheel, Rotary Power, renewable energy, and of course the internet. We
have our computers, cell phones, tablets to allow us to keep up with social media, but have you
ever thought of a time when we might not have the use of these things? Does the idea of not
having it at your finger tips make you nervous? Do we rely on technology too much as a
society, which is the question I am going to try and answer.
Many blame the advancement of technology for making us in a sense a lazier society of
human beings. We use our computers and smart phones do so much in our everyday lives, from
shopping for everyday items such as clothes, diapers and shoes to ordering out food and even to
simply performing most of our daily tasks at work. We seem to forget that none of this was
available to us 30 years ago and people managed just fine. In 2013, retailers such as Barnes &
Noble, Best Buy, and Office Max closed hundreds of retail stores. (C. Kirschiner) Causing
thousands upon thousands of people to lose their jobs simply because it is easier to sit at home
and shop online.
Computers are another form of technology that is running our daily lives. Facebook,
Google and You Tube are just some of the most popular internet sites today. Students in
schools no longer have the need to go to the library and open a book and read, all they

Dana2
must simply do is turn on their computers and search what it is they are wanting to learn
about, writing essays from the comfort of their own homes (E. Little)
Phones are becoming more and more popular since they came about, in 2016 the
number of people worldwide to own a phone or smart phone is estimated to be around 2
billion according to the study by Computers in Human Behavior. I know that whenever I do no
have my phone, Im in a sense where I feel completely naked without it. I am constantly using it
to check what is going on in social media, and text messages. In the study done by Computers in
Human behavior, they concluded; Across three studies,those who think more intuitively and
less analytically when given Reasoning processes may compensate by relying on the internet
through their smart phones.(Telegraph Reporter)
An assistant professor at West Virginia University, Dr. Nicholas Bowman, made a
statement to MNN; we sometimes remove ourselves from our moment by watching
something through our smart phones... compared to watching it with our own eyes.
We spend too much time trying to capture moments in our lives rather than just simply
living in the moment.
There are however some good things to come from the advancement of technology,
calculators for instance. It helps you formulate an answer to a mathematical problem
faster all the while still allowing us to learn how to get there. In a sense it also keeps us from
becoming cognitively lazy. Technology has also allowed us to make advancements in organ
transplants, which can help us save more lives. Other technologies like anaerobic digestion
help produce renewable energy from the waste that we produce every day. Renewable energy is
an energy that can be easily replaced. One example of renewable energy is greenhouse gases,
which is dependent on the adoption of energy conservation technologies at industrial level as
well as this clean energy generation. (Wikipedia) We have learned to harness the suns energy

Dana 3
to power homes, to take gasses produced by the earth and create a cleaner fuel in order to reduce
the carbon foot print we are leaving on the world. Development of hybrid vehicles running fuel
we have harnessed from the technology of renewable energy.
So to answer the question of this essay Do we as a society rely on technology too
much? In some ways I do and in others ways I do not. Without some of the advancements
we wouldnt be able to do some amazing things, saving lives. As for the every growing way of
consumerism, the only thing technology has caused is the loss of jobs for millions of people
around the world. We just need to be careful in which we continue to use technology going
forth in the future. So I leave you with another quote from Dr. Bowman, children dont
have to memorize as many facts as their grandparents did because they can Google it
the ability to move past simple memorization and into more advanced levels of analysis,
problem-solving, and synthesis of old knowledge into new ideas.

Works Cited
7 Signs we are too dependent on Technology, Chanie Kirschner, September 30, 2013 2:37pm
Too dependent on technology? Emily Little, January 22, 2014
www.telegraph.co.uk, Stop relying on your smart phone to think for you, Anomalous,
March 3, 2015
6 Bad Habits to Blame on Technology, Jeff Hindenach, insidetech.monster.com
Is technology making us less Human?, Ray Kurzweil, The Man-Machine Merger.
September 11, 2013