600 Words

 Improvements in technology are ever changing. From the light bulb in the eighteenth century to the creation of artificial intelligence in the twenty-first century, technological advancements have come a long way. As a society we utilize many aspects of technology in our daily lives. Whether we realize it or not, technology has a massive impact on the way we think, read, and interact with others. I think that technology has many benefits that make previously tedious tasks more manageable. It can also bring enjoyment and fulfillment to its users. However, I feel that we rely too much on technology which causes us to disconnect from reality and take for granted the little things that bring us happiness. I believe that the way that we are currently using technology is creating unhealthy habits that will have irreparable damage for future generations.  

Technology is giving us a false sense of understanding. The way that we use social media and the internet as our sole news source is misinforming us of the whole picture. I myself am a victim of falling for fake news. It is so easy nowadays to get information at the click of a button that we immediately take it as fact. I was mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed when I came across a post about the tragic death of Lil Tay, a young TikTok star. I was immediately shocked to see that she had died at such a young age. When I looked into it more I found out that she had in fact not died, but it was a fake ploy by her parents to get them more attention. I almost took that post for fact, because who lies about the death of a young kid but it just shows that you cannot believe everything you see on the internet. 

The use of technology is making us more robotic. Technology has made it easier for us to produce more content faster than before. Whether that be writing an academic essay or just a simple text message to a friend. We have to think significantly less than we had to before when we were handwriting homework assignments and letters. The use of technology alters the tone of our writing, making it more robotic. Like Friedrich Nietzsche who was mentioned in Nicholas Carr’s essay, his use of a typewriter because of his failing vision created a subtle yet noticeable change in the tone of his writing. Subconsciously, technology has changed the way that we think in even the smallest instances. In modern times, the way that we act, speak, and write has changed since the introduction of the internet. Most of the time we do not even realize the impact that technology has on our lifestyle. Looking back I can see how much my personality has changed since I got social media in sixth grade. The way that I act and how I speak have changed so subtly with the trends of social media that I hardly notice a difference. The autocorrect feature on computers and phones has immensely changed texting and writing. As it brings up suggestions and corrections to grammar and spelling I have to think less about those aspects of writing. Even as I am writing this essay autocorrect is editing my mistakes without me even having to click a button. Technology knows us better than we know ourselves sometimes and is always one step ahead of us. 

Technology makes us lazy. With all the features of technology and availability of piles and piles of information at once, we do not have to do any research or heavy thinking to find what we need.                       

1,000 Words

Improvements in technology are ever changing. From the light bulb in the eighteenth century to the creation of artificial intelligence in the twenty-first century, technological advancements have come a long way. As a society we utilize many aspects of technology in our daily lives. Whether we realize it or not, technology has a massive impact on the way we think, read, and interact with others. I think that technology has many benefits that make previously tedious tasks more manageable. It can also bring enjoyment and fulfillment to its users. However, I feel that our reliance on technology can cause a disconnect between ourselves and reality. 

Technology is giving us a false sense of understanding. The way that we use social media and the internet as our sole news source is misinforming us of the whole picture. I myself am a victim of falling for fake news. It is so easy nowadays to get information at the click of a button that we immediately take it as fact. I was mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed when I came across a post about the tragic death of Lil Tay, a young TikTok star. I was immediately shocked to see that she had died at such a young age. When I looked into it more I found out that she had in fact not died, but it was a fake ploy by her parents to get them more attention. I almost took that post for fact, because who lies about the death of a young kid but it just shows that you cannot believe everything you see on the internet. 

The use of technology is making us more robotic. Technology has made it easier for us to produce more content faster than before. Whether that be writing an academic essay or just a simple text message to a friend. We have to think significantly less than we had to before when we were handwriting homework assignments and letters. The use of technology alters the tone of our writing, making it more robotic. Like Friedrich Nietzsche who was mentioned in Nicholas Carr’s essay, his use of a typewriter because of his failing vision created a subtle yet noticeable change in the tone of his writing. Subconsciously, technology has changed the way that we think in even the smallest instances. In modern times, the way that we act, speak, and write has changed since the introduction of the internet. Most of the time we do not even realize the impact that technology has on our lifestyle. Looking back I can see how much my personality has changed since I got social media in sixth grade. The way that I act and how I speak have changed so subtly with the trends of social media that I hardly notice a difference. The autocorrect feature on computers and phones has immensely changed texting and writing. As it brings up suggestions and corrections to grammar and spelling I have to think less about those aspects of writing. Even as I am writing this essay autocorrect is editing my mistakes without me even having to click a button. Technology knows us better than we know ourselves sometimes and is always one step ahead of us. 

Technology makes us lazy. With all the features of technology and availability of piles and piles of information at once, we do not have to do any research or heavy thinking to find what we need. Before the internet, if we wanted to learn about something we would have to go to a library and search through stacks of books to find what we were looking for. Now the process is much quicker and requires a lot less energy. I think that this improvement is not always a bad thing however because it allows us to explore vastly different topics in a much shorter period of time. I think that the problem occurs when we become too used to getting everything in an instance that we lose the ability to focus on one task for a longer period of time. Social media like TikTok does not help this problem either, with all these short videos available at once I find it very hard to stay engaged with longer videos. I can scroll through TikTok videos for hours on end, but if you ask me to sit through an entire movie, I will struggle to stay attentive and engaged because I have been so accustomed to quick bursts of information.  

I do not completely agree with Carr’s perspective that technology creates these “pancake people”. I believe that technology is also a vital part of our society and is definitely a necessary part of success in today’s world. There are a lot of benefits to advancements in technology. For example, in medicine new machines and tools allow surgeons to operate much more efficiently and save many more lives. Just because they are using machines does not mean that they are not capable or intelligent, the machines are aides in their saving process. We can think of technology like tools to help us be more successful in our daily tasks. When I was ten years old, my family and I were traveling to Minnesota in our RV. It takes almost a day to drive there but we took a lot of stops along the way. My dad had just bought a new GPS to help him navigate the journey. I remember vividly him saying, “I need the GPS because your mother is not a good copilot using a map. We would always get lost because she would miss an exit.” We never got lost once on this trip. The GPS is a great example of modern technology that helps simplify previously difficult tasks. Technology is also useful in connecting people around the world. Phone calls, video chats, and messages allow us to connect with family and friends who live far away. 

Revised

Improvements in technology are ever changing. From the light bulb in the eighteenth century to the creation of artificial intelligence in the twenty-first century, technological advancements have come a long way. As a society we utilize many aspects of technology in our daily lives. Whether we realize it or not, technology has a massive impact on the way we think, read, and interact with others. I think that technology has many benefits that make previously tedious tasks more manageable. It can also bring us together with other users from around the world. However, there are aspects of technology that can cause a disconnect between us and reality that I think needs to be taken into consideration by all users before we succumb to a society of “pancake people” feared by Richard Foreman and Nicholas Carr.  

Our use of technology has made us more robotic. Technology has made it easier for us to produce more content faster than before. Whether that be writing an academic essay or just a simple text message to a friend. We have to think significantly less than we had to before when we were handwriting homework assignments and letters. Technology alters our writing, creating a more robotic tone. Nicholas Carr discusses this concept in his essay about the fears of technology, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”. Friedrich Nietzsche, a composer in the late eighteen hundreds, learned how to use a typewriter because of his failing vision. Carr writes, “But the machine had a subtler effect on his work. One of Nietzsche’s friends, a composer, noticed a change in the style of writing. His already terse prose had become even tighter, more telegraphic” (Carr). Nietzsche’s writing subtly changed as the process became more automated because of the monotony of the typewriter. Subconsciously, technology has changed the way that we think in even the smallest instances. In modern times, the way that we act, speak, and write has changed since the introduction of the internet. Most of the time we do not even realize the impact that technology has on our lifestyle. Looking back now I can see how much my personality has changed since I got social media in sixth grade. The way that I act and how I speak have changed so subtly with the trends of social media that I hardly notice a difference. Improvements in computer software have changed the way that we write and text. Autocorrect brings up suggestions and corrections to grammar and spelling,  so I have to think significantly less about those aspects of writing. Even as I am writing this essay autocorrect is editing my mistakes without me even having to click a button. Technology knows us better than we know ourselves sometimes and is always one step ahead of us. 

The ease technology provides creates an atmosphere that promotes laziness. With all the features of technology and availability of piles and piles of information at once, we do not have to do any research or heavy thinking to find what we need. Before the internet, if we wanted to learn about something we would have to go to a library and search through stacks of books to find what we were looking for. This process is much quicker and requires a lot less energy. Now when we have the information we are searching for we tend to skim until we find the answer we are looking for. Carr recites the fear of skimming on our ability to comprehend deep texts, “The style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts ‘efficiency’ and ‘immediacy’ above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace” (Carr). Today most people read to understand the topic at a surface level and not deeply because there is no reason to spend hours and hours reading complex text when Google can summarize it for you in a millisecond. I do not think that this improvement is always a bad thing, however, because it allows us to explore vastly different topics in a much shorter period of time. I think that the problem occurs when we become too used to getting everything in an instance that we lose the ability to focus on one task for a longer period of time. Social media does not help this problem either, with all these short videos available at once I find it very hard to stay engaged for a long period of time. I can scroll through TikTok videos for hours on end, but if you ask me to sit through an entire movie, I will struggle to stay attentive and engaged because I have been so accustomed to quick bursts of information. I know this is the case for many others as well. The constant use of technology has created a widespread epidemic of laziness.    

Despite the concerns I have about technology, I do not completely agree with Carr’s perspective that we are becoming  a society of “pancake people”. I believe that technology is also a vital part of our society and is definitely a necessary part of success in today’s world. There are a lot of benefits to advancements in technology. For example, in medicine new machines and tools allow surgeons to operate much more efficiently and save many more lives. Just because they are using machines does not mean that they are not capable or intelligent, the machines are aides in their saving process. We can think of technology like tools to help us be more successful in our daily tasks. Technology is also useful in connecting people around the world. Phone calls, video chats, and messages allow us to connect with family and friends who live far away. Being away from home for college has been a scary experience, but the ability to FaceTime and text with my parents and loved ones has allowed me to stay connected and help ease my homesickness. There is nothing like physical connection and being with your family but technology allows us to still be able to communicate with them even when we are not physically together.