My Teknofear (or lack thereof)
Lots of people I know are terrified of technology. Yes, there are the stereotypical old people who think technology is turning children’s minds into muck and teenagers attention span into nothing. But there are also people who are my age - people who are young enough to just barely remember a time without internet or smart phones or video chat - that feel the same way. They think young adults now are “zombies” to their phones, and that we don’t simply talk to each other face to face anymore and it’s ruining our personal relationships.
I think these people are idiots.
First of all, people have been avoiding talking to other people since practically forever. Before we had phones, there were books and newspapers and staring off into space that kept people preoccupied enough to ignore those around them. All I can think of when people insinuate that technology is ruining society is a shirt that was going around that says “technology is bad, fire is scary, and Thomas Edison was a witch.” Technology has done amazing things for our society, and we can literally hold the entire container of knowledge of the human race in a machine the size of the palm of our hand.
Do I think technology is going to get to a point where it could take over the world? Maybe. It’s definitely possible.
Do I think technology is inherently bad and that we should keep it away from children, effectively keeping them in the 20th century? No. Not even a little bit.
Kids should embrace technology, since it’s only going to get more and more prominent in their lives as they grow older. Smart phones and laptops and Apple watches are just ways our society has progressed technologically (if it’s for the better or worse is obviously up for debate). Sure, I hope robots and AI don’t become sentient and evil and enslave the human race... but we’ll deal with that if it happens, okay?
