We Must Not Let Technology Consume Us

Common technological devices will rule our lives if we let them. Photo Credit / James Gallagher Common technological devices will rule our lives if we let them. Photo Credit / James Gallagher
Common technological devices will rule our lives if we let them. Photo Credit / James Gallagher
Common technological devices will rule our lives if we let them.
Photo Credit / James Gallagher

By Cassandra Sedler
Contributing Writer

On Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. in Abeloff, award-winning author Nick Carr spent the evening talking to ESU students about the One Book One Campus selection, The Circle.

Nick Carr’s work as an author and speaker focuses mainly on the impact technology has on our society and culture.

For this reason, it is no surprise Carr addressed ESU students about the impact such intense use of technology has on our ability to concentrate and think deeply.

During his speech, I could not help but look around at my fellow peers in the audience.

Although everyone gave Carr their full attention for the majority of the evening, I could not help but notice the amount of cellphones that people were still holding in their hands.

It’s unnerving to think of the amount of effort it took each individual not to glance down to check the time, their messages or to update their social media profiles.

This subconscious misbehavior ultimately provides an example for Nick Carr’s speech that night.

Our dependence on technology not only prevents us from enjoying an educational evening, but also worsens our ability to think deeply and concentrate on things that have real value.

There is no doubt technology allows us to connect with people, events and new information from different areas around the world.

However, at the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that technology has numerous drawbacks and consequential effects on the way in which people communicate, or lack thereof.

As a society, we have become more shallow, less empathetic and altogether inept in our long term memory.

These faults are due in large part to the technology that controls our daily lives, constantly adding to our stresses and social anxieties.

Perhaps it is too late to reverse these effects completely, however, I do believe there is something we can each do as individuals.

Simply put, instead of avoiding face-to-face conversation by worrying about your latest status updates, embrace actually spending time with people. Talk to one another.

Technology has made our lives significantly easier and better in a myriad of ways, but we must not let technology consume the way in which we live our lives.

Email Cassandra at:
csedler@live.esu.edu