To the editor:
One thing Professor Stephen Hawking cautioned before he died was the profound effect technology has on society and how it will continue to shape civilization in the future. There is no doubt that technological advancements have helped humanity. The human race has made leaps and bounds in scientific discoveries and medical advancements over the past decade, but with triumphs of technology also comes the side effects it has on people and how they interact with one another.
A big issue that’s cropped up over the last decade is that cyber-bullying has become a worldwide epidemic, especially with young people; children are much meaner to each other online since there are no repercussion to being nasty while hiding behind a screen. This also goes along with the effect that social media has had on society in regards to human behavior itself and it seems to become an obsession. More than ever people live through their social media accounts and forget what’s happening in front of them.
I recently went to a concert and it seemed that people were more interested in watching the concert through a camera than truly experiencing the concert first-hand. It has also decreased the social skills of people, especially young adults, who are growing up in such a digital age. It seems like more than ever communication is restricted to a screen, which is good in certain aspects, but it’s made it harder to have a genuine face-to-face conversation with people. We’ve become so use to talking to people online, texting, and calling that in the process many have forgotten how to have proper interaction with others.
Everyone has begun to live through social media, and have sadly become obsessed with checking how many followers and likes they have online instead of focusing their energy and time on other tasks. Plus, there is no sign of technological advancements slowing down which could further this problem with communication.
There is also the worry that we’ve begun to rely on technology a bit too much, and at this point most people can’t go a day without glancing at their phone or posting something online. I’m not saying all technology is bad, in fact I’m very fond of it, however there is a difference between using lights or television and scientifically altering DNA. So while technology has no doubt been beneficial in some ways, it has been detrimental to how humans interact with one another.
Katherine Patton
Hillsborough