Technology has been around since the dawn of man. From
simple stone-based tools to the high tech computers that we have today, we have
progressively advanced our ability to make our lives easier over the short
amount of years our species has been on this earth. In today’s society,
technology has influenced us in just about every aspect of our lives. From
waking up in the morning to sleeping, but with the passing of days, technology
will just continue to advance until what we saw as new will be considered old
in just a few years.
Many
people find it repulsive how we apply technology, but I personally feel as
though they do not understand the main points as to why we use all of these
gadgets in the first place. Every animal has evolved at one point in its life. For
example: Birds adopted different beaks for their preferred food type. Certain
animals adopted scales or tales, Limbs and camouflage. Humans, I feel, do not
evolve as rapidly as other organisms on a biological scale, but
technologically, we rapidly improve our lives, living standards, and
health.
To learn more
about how technology influences our lives, I had to first take a look at how
much of it I actually use. The list I made was massive, as everything I used
was technically considered technology. From a simple light bulb, to my cell
phone, technology has impacted my life drastically. For example: My cellphone
is probably one of the most influential pieces of technology that I use. (See Fig. 1) It is my alarm clock, schedule planner, social
media, music player, and more importantly my phone. So many more uses, but it
is something we take for granted. Probably the second biggest piece of
technology I use is my laptop. It is my backup when I don’t have my phone with
me, or if I want to write a paper or two. In the book “the Feed”, computers are installed inside people’s brains. Fortunately
or unfortunately, (If you think high usage of technology is bad.) This step on
our technological evolution hasn’t fully been achieved yet, but maybe one day
we will be able to do such a thing.
Being
the top two on my list, I looked at the others that were their too. My TV, lights,
PS3, and car were also on their as well, but not as much as my phone and
laptop. When looking at my list though, I began to wonder about the past. We
are so used to our technology that we fail to see how past generations were
influenced from it. To find out for myself, I interviewed 3 different people:
My Grandma, my mother, and my father. The results were pretty shocking for
people my age. My grandmother was most interested about my project, and told me
stories of how they used to always listen to the radio, and how the quality
wasn’t as good as todays radios. She also told me how they didn’t have as many
plastics, and everything lasted longer since nothing was really disposable. TV
wasn’t really a big thing, but as she got older they started to advance, but when they first came out,
not a lot of people she knew really watched it. The phone lines also required
operators to direct your calls in a lot of places. (See FIG. 2) This astounded
me, and made me even more thankful that I had a cell phone! She wasn’t opposed
to technology, but it was confusing to her, and I had to even show her how to
use a laptop.
My mother was
raised in New York City, and told me how TV was one of the biggest things when
she was little. Radios where awesome too, but what really made music better,
were cassette players. Anyone who was
anyone had them, and my grandfather got her one. Another cool gadget at the
time was arcades. They were a big hotspot for kids, and everyone went during
weekends or after school. My dad was raised in the country. A much more
different walk of life than my mother, and technology still clung to the days
of my grandmother for him since his mother wasn’t really excited for all the
new technological advancements. Still, he didn’t have to say about what technology he really used because he was always taught to play outside, hunt, fish, and live the old 1950s lifestyle of a Protestant Christian boy. He did tell me when he had an old corvette; he had a cassette player in it, which was the most advanced piece of technology he owned. Being in the military though, he told me how he didn’t have the GPS devices that I use today, but they used maps and compasses. He also told me how the vehicles they used didn’t have all the fancy armor plating or designs. It was more simple and cost effective compared to the pricey vehicles we use today.
When I
was done with my 3 interviews, I thought about everything and noticed a
pattern. It wasn’t that technology was changing. (As in newer types where
coming out.) Yes, new things did come out, but overall, Technology was
evolving. The radios for example changed throughout the years to become more
efficient, and then it was transferred to a more reliable form such as phones
or laptops, and even car stereos. Humanity
found more efficient ways to make these things, and progressively evolved it to
suit the generations and to sell their products more than the competition. Humans
need technology to progress. It is our form of evolution. Our ability to think
was the start of that, and I feel is a piece of technology itself. From being
able to think differently than other species, we were able to construct
buildings and create fire. We are the next step in evolution, but an even
bigger question would be to ask yourself: How far will our technological
advancements go?
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