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Computer Technology And Its Impact On Society

Essay, Research Paper


Computer Technology and its Impact on Society


By Julie A. Rodgers, For The Paper Store – July 1999


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Most of us are benefiting a great deal from the


technological advances being made in the computer and


industry. Even the writing of this paper would not be


possible, or as probable, without the computer technology


that is available today. From our automobiles to


airplanes, from our employment to our vacations, nearly


everything we do is linked somehow to a computer and the


advancements made in the computer industry. But this does


not necessarily make the technological growth of computers


a good thing for society in general. While it has


certainly given us a great deal of benefits that are


incredibly important, such as life saving devices, it has


also driven us further and further away from living our


lives as human beings, in the purest sense of the meaning.


We are moving further and further away from understanding


what it is to be human and what it is to work and think


independently from technology. This is not necessarily a


good thing.


Back in the earlier days f the computer, we were


truly thrilled with it. Even as short a time ago as the


late 1980?s, we were still unsure of what it was capable


of:


?The advent of the microcomputer has already had


a significant impact on society, but it will be


during the decade of the 1990s that a lasting


impression will be made. Computer technology


took us to the moon in the 1960s, gave us credit


cards in the 1970s, and automated teller


machines and lotteries in the 1980s. Now, at the


beginning of the 1990s, computer technology is


strategically nonexpendable in the corporate


world. The computers that affect the world today


are still mostly mainframes and minicomputers,


but within the next decade the influence of


computing technology will be determined by the


microcomputer? (Helliwell 16).


Much has changed, and not necessarily for the better.


In examining what damage the computer has done, or is


capable of doing, we illustrate a science fiction


scenario. We are all familiar with stories of


civilizations, far in the future, that have incredible


amounts of technology at their fingertips. But in these


science fiction scenarios, we also find that the societies


who have this technology are living off another?s design


and they know little, if anything, about how to operate


the system. They merely enjoy the benefits and live on in


ignorance. Suddenly this society must face a dilemma when


the technology is breaking down, and they do not


understand it enough to fix it. They have lost the


knowledge. While this may seem like a far fetched tale,


it is clearly what many of us are becoming.


Technology, and more importantly, computer


technology, has given us a great deal of benefits over the


relatively short span of its life thus far. We are now


communicating with people, and nations, in ways never


dreamed of. The planet is becoming more and more unified


in many ways, all due to the computer and computer


technology. Hospitals and the health industry have


obtained the capability to help many more people and save


more lives, through the advances in computer technology.


People are able to work at home more now, than they have


in years, due to the communication abilities made possible


by the computer, an issue which may well help many family


structures in the country. But, despite all of the great


advances that have been made with computers, the


disadvantages may well, far outweigh the advantages,


merely because too many people are ignorant and


essentially ?go with the flow,? never once examining their


lives in relationship to whether computers have helped


them or harmed them.


To start with, people rely far too much on computers,


much like the science fiction scenario. For example, when


making flight reservations, and even when taking a flight,


we do not stop and consider the fact that we are literally


putting our lives in the hands of a computer. When


computers were relatively new, there were numerous times


when nuclear war between Russia and the United States was


almost a reality due to a malfunction of a computer. When


we turn on our lights, turn on our water, pay any bills,


or pay for anything at the store, we are relying on


computers. What happens if one machine fails? A simple


inconvenience can put us in a situation where we are


literally lost as to what to do. For example, recently

in


the grocery store, which is in the town this writer lives


in, was out of milk due to a failure in power and computer


communications at a dairy. How many people were without


milk for a day? Did it make any of those people stop and


think about how reliant they have become on computers and


computer technology? Probably not, and if so, it probably


only lasted for the day they had no milk. We are becoming


a people that do not know how to live or survive without


technology, much less computer technology.


Computers, and home computers, are becoming more and


more widely used, obviously making a big change in many


people?s lives. For example, our children now have access


to the entire country, including many people and pieces of


information that they may well not be ready for. How many


talk shows have we seen, or heard about, where they talk


of young girls being lied to and lured away by someone


they met on the internet? How many people do we personally


know who have been influenced one way or another by the


internet and people they have met on the internet? Our


society is changing, and in many ways, aside from reliance


and human survival basics, we are becoming a very new race


of humans here in this country.


One of the biggest complaints, in relationship to the


Internet, has been pornography. While many of these people


who are complaining about it are essentially people who


would like to thwart our rights as Americans, there is a


great deal of negativity attached to the reality of


pornography on the Internet. Pornography has been proven


to boost the violent level of men with any tendency for


such behavior, and it has been proven to instigate


incidents of sexual harassment, even among the so-called


?enlightened? college group. It is available, in the


privacy of one?s own home, with the use of the computer.


It is relatively free, and allows the viewer total


anonymity. In addition to pornography, there is also a


very new trend taking place, which has a sexual nature, in


relationship to the internet. This is what is know as


cybersex. marriages and otherwise normal relationships,


have been destroyed due to the fact that people can sign


on the computer and have cybersex (written computer


communication) with complete strangers. If you go into any


chat room on the internet you will find people asking for


cybersex or talking about sex in general. While this is


not necessarily a bad thing in itself, ensuring many


people are having the safest sex they can, it is also an


indicator of where this society is going in general, when


it comes to the computer. Not only do we rely on it, but


what we have a tendency to use it for is secretive actions


that we would not normally involve ourselves in. In some


ways, it brings out the worst side of people, for they can


be as deceptive and unrealistic as they want. But the


problem remains that while ?advances in technology have


changed this country from a stable agricultural and


commercial society to a modern industrial society and


although some of the changes have not been good, few


people would want to resign themselves to the limitations


of the old days? (Brooks 96).


There is, undoubtedly, a great deal to be gained from


the computer and the computer industry, but the problem is


with the people as a whole. Most people are not looking at


the computer as a tool, but rather a complete way of life


that helps them escape from reality and from real


knowledge and real work. Morris states that this is even


the case with education and our children: ?But society


must be wary of trusting a substantial amount of the


education of its children to sophisticated machines and


technological innovations? (11). The point is, computers


are not bad, nor are they negative, just like many other


objects in our material world are not bad or negative. It


is all in how we use them and how we rely on them that


makes a situation or reality a negative one. There are, as


mentioned, many ways in which computers have helped our


society, but if we continue in our ignorance, we may find


that we have lost all we have to the world of computers.


Bibliography


Brooks, Doug. ?Technology keeps the U.S. moving at full


throttle. (column).,? Government Computer News,


(1988) : October, v7 n22, pp. 96(1).


Helliwell, John.?Waiting for the true impact of PCs on


society. (The Hard Edge) (column).,? PC Week, (1989) :


December, v6 n51, pp. 16(1).


Morris, James M.. ?The human touch. (computer information


technology and education).,? The Wilson Quarterly,


(1998) : Autumn, v22 n4, pp. 11(2).

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