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The home of the future or: How much technology is good for us? Discuss!
Some weeks ago a special space shuttle explored a planet in the universe and made pictures and collected facts about it like the temperature. But what can we use these facts for? Is it really necessary for us to know what the temperature on Mars or another planet is? Do we have to develop our technology so far that we can explore everything and have explanations for everything? Can we take the responsibility if we play "God"?
These are some questions, which came to my mind, when I heard about that space travel research.
Of course a development in technology makes our life easier and more comfortable as it is shown by the microwave. Because of this invention it is possible for us to "cook" food in a short time so that we can save time and can spend it on other things, which might be more important.
Another advantage and proof for the use of technology is that people are more independent and flexible as cars show because if people travel by car they are not dependent on public means of transport like bus or train anymore and can decide on their own when they want to drive.
Besides that they are much faster and also they can spend more time together with friends. As the mobile phone makes clear they have the chance of improving their social contacts since they can talk to people wherever they want and have always a phone connection to their friends or other people.
But in contrast to that technology isolates people from each other. For instance many young people, especially boys, spend their free time on playing computer games. Therefore they do not meet their friends anymore and loose contact to them so that they get lonely.
Furthermore they also loose contact to reality and think that what they play is real. Because of the brutal computer games people can get more aggressive, too. One consequence might be a rising of crime and act of violence. In addition to the isolation from friends technology estranges the family, too. An example for this is the microwave as the family does not cook anymore together and all family members can eat whenever they want so that they do not have a common meal anymore where they could talk to each other. So in the end also the communication between the members of the family is disturbed and many social fields can be destroyed by technology.
Another fact that has to be taken into account is that a more developed technology can be too difficult for people. For example my mother cannot operate our video recorder, that means in other words she cannot record a television programme or to put it into strictly speaking the video recorder cannot fulfil its function and then technology becomes senseless as nobody can use it.
A second example for the lost of main tasks of technologies are the mobile phones with a photo camera. If I have a mobile phone, I want to talk to other people and do not want to take photographs! If I want to do so, I would take a "real" camera. I hope that you can follow my train of thought and also think that this development was not necessary.
One argument which is more persuading for most of the people is that technology can be a danger for us and not only in one connection.
At first it can be dangerous as people can get dependent on technology and are helpless without it. A simple proof for this is a student who cannot calculate without pocket calculator. This shows that people get lazy and rely on technologies, but then they do not take into account that technology can fail or get out of control.
Also it is a danger because if the "wrong" people use these technologies, they can threat the whole world like the atomic bomb has shown. Then the consequences cannot be estimated anymore and chaotic, escalated situation might be on earth. This also means that technology can fear people and takes control over us.
The result might be psychological problems because people put pressure on themselves as they want to fulfil the expectations of others. To put it another way they fear that they might loose their job if they cannot operate with the latest technologies and have less chances in life. Also they fear a bad reputation and those others laugh about them if they cannot use the latest inventions. Or even do not know about them. In that case people are overstretched, feel helpless and do not know what they can do. These psychological problems and self- pressure would increase with every new development and then the result for people cannot be estimated.
There is still the point of destroying the nature left. This means that many technologies exhaust fumes which lead to different environmental problems but without a "working" nature we cannot live on earth.
The last point I want to mention is that many people loose the view for the real important problems which we should solve before we improve and develop our technology further. I for myself have the feeling that it is more important to help people who have real problems like nothing to eat or no education system instead of being high- technoligized.
Accordingly is my conclusion that technology is good as far as we know how to use it can operate it and have the control over it. For this reason we should be satisfied with that technology that we have already and should concentrate on making it normal and available for all people all over the world.
To come back to my introductory example of the space research, I think that it is better not to know everything because it appeals more to me if the nature has some secrets and mysteries left for us.
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