Technology's Relationship With Us
This is a seven-minute video about the most famous display at the 1964 World's Fair in New York — called FUTURAMA. It predicted a world in which technology would be our savior. Technology would save us. Technology would comfort us. Technology would solve all of our problems. Technology would be the gateway to our heavenly utopia!
(I actually rode on this ride with my parents in the summer of 1964 — because my mother was very pregnant with me at the time!)
Am I saying that all technology is negative? NOT AT ALL! I think the Internet is the greatest achievement in all of humanity. All of the knowledge of the ages is available to me at the touch of a button. AMAZING! Those things that you call "cell phones" are not phones at all — they are fully functioning desktop computers in the palm of your hands. AMAZING! The fact that I can set up a blog in one minute and potentially communicate with millions of people across the globe? AMAZING!
However, there are these things called unintended consequences. Before the Internet, no one ever thought of the term cyberbullying. Before social media, no one ever thought of the term revenge porn. Before social media, no one ever thought of the term ghosting.
Before social media, youth suicide rates were not rising in the United States: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/youth-suicide-rates-are-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s
We've talked throughout this semester about how every upside has a downside, about how every advantage that comes with a new technology is accompanied by an unforeseen disadvantage. Every new technology includes the good, the bad and the ugly.
Think about technology as an entity with which we have a relationship. Society has a relationship with technology. I have a relationship with technology. You have a relationship with technology. That way, we can question whether the relationship is healthy or unhealthy at any moment.
QUESTIONS TO PROMPT YOUR THINKING
This is not a quiz. You do not have to answer them in that way. They are here to prompt your thinking, which could lead to questions of your own. Address some, all or go your own way and explore other dimensions of technology as it has played a role in your life or that you see happening in the world around you, for good or for ill.
— Do you think your relationship with technology is healthy? Why or why not? Do you think that you are giving technology the appropriate amount of time in your life, or do you think that technology is taking up too much time in your life? Do you think technology is informing you and making you smarter, or do you think that technology might be misleading you and giving you unreliable information? Do you ever worry about these things, or do you think it's just an accepted part of the society we live in?
— What about your friends and family? Do you think that technology is a positive part of their lives? How does technology play a role in your relationships? Good and bad.
— What is your online footprint? If you were applying for a job today, the first thing your prospective employer would do is go online and find out as much as she or he could. What would they find? How much of an online presence do you have? Google yourself — that's the first thing they will do! What comes up? What kind of image does it paint? Is there anything you should edit out of your online presence?
REMEMBER: This is not just a stream-of-consciousness post about your favorite apps and why use them That is NOT the way to approach this assignment. When we talk about OUR relationship with technology, it's not just you -- but society as a whole, as a democracy, as human beings, as humanity. This is not just about YOU! But we do want to hear about you along the way. :-)
MORE QUESTIONS AND MATERIAL
See the final post at the end of the blog. There are lots of articles from the press that might get you thinking of more and more ways technology touches your life and the lives of those around you. Maybe your thought about some of these issues before or felt touched by them in some way. Feel free to use any of those linkable articles in your post as well.
"Man" — The animator Steve Cutts is brilliant. This video is only tangentially related to the media focus of our class, but we have talked a lot about technology in general and how it can have a bright side and a dark side. Cutts sums it up brilliantly in this three-minute video. Enjoy!
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