Daniel Juarez (783 words) Essay Example For Students

Daniel Juarez (783 words) Essay Daniel Juarez Mcmillen English 101 13 March 2017 Are We in a Race Against the Machine? Technological advances have set up the foundation of todays society, but the question is,has technology actually made us smarterasClive Thompson claims in Smarter thanYou Think?There is no doubt that in the world today,weas humansrelyon oursmartphones, computers, social media,machinesand televisionin our everyday lives. They serve a fundamental purpose; to enhance the way we live, learn,communicate, andkeep up withwhat is going on in the world or inourlocal regions.Even though one might say technologyis making us stupidrather than smartasNicholas Carr claims in Is Google Making Us Stupid.Technology isactuallymaking us smarter because as our technologyadvances so does our minds. Working with technologyI believehas hadsucha great influence on the way wethink, build, and create ina positive means.On endless accounts throughout history you seeitsinfluence on human cognition,the great impact technology has hadonthe creation ofnewjobs,and on the way we live our livestoday. Advances in technology havehad a great impact on society today. During theIndustrial Revolution, automation allowed for the growth of new jobs in factories that created and distributed, farm equipment, and many other products with more proficiency and effectiveness than ever beforeas author Kevin Kelly explains in his article Better than Human: Why Robots Willand MustTake Our Jobs.What does this have to do with how technology is making us smarter?It has everything to do withhowtechnologyismaking us smarter. You see this throughout the history of the United States and you see it all around the worldevery day. From the end of the Industrial Revolution,till now;you see the endless appearance of new inventions such as the TV, phones,solar panels, the internet, and so on. As technology advances sodoesscience and the world we live in.Since the Industrial Revolution, youalsosee the growth and creation of new jobs; new jobs that require advanced degrees or the proper education and training to do them.In todays time not even a bachelors degree will suffice for getting a job that was commonly done with that same amount of education in the past decades.Technology is making it so that humans have to besmarter,able toadapt, andtowork with it to improve the quality of which we live.Brooke Gladstone, author of The Influencing Machines states in her article,Technologydoes change our brains.Humanitysfirst use of handheld tools coincided with the growth of the prefrontal cortex, as well as grammatical language and more complex social networks(334).Likewise, Clive Thompson supports these ideals in his wri ting by saying Our tools are everywhere, linked with our minds, working in tandem(347).Had there nothave been these primordial instincts to use and build tools, how might we have developed cognition otherwise?We couldnt possibly have. Many people would probably agree with the fact that technology has an influence on our lives on the dailyregardlessofifits oursmartphones, social media, TV, or any of the machines that we mightwork with, or use in our homes. It helps us learn in class rooms, stay in contact with family, friends, and pen pals all over the world with just the push of a button. Technology has become the staple of a thrivingand educatedsociety.But on the other hand,as Thompson explains,One of the great challenges of todays digital thinking tools is knowing when not to use them, when to rely on the powers of older slower technologies, like paper and books(355).I would agree that it is veryeasy to get caught up in using the technology in our pockets, and forget about reading a hard cover book or writingona notepad with a pen.AuthorNicholasCarr says,The kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes is valuable not just forthe knowledge we acquire from the authors words but for the intellec tual vibrations those words set off within our minds (327).Wesurelyneed the silence of our own minds to absorb information and have time to think and comprehend what we are learning. It also allows you to just take your time and slowyour mind down toconcentrate on the words flowing together and stimulate all senses to bring words to life.