Mountaineer Minutes

Technology: Is it makeing us dum?

By Brittany Moorehead

Technology is perhaps one of the most prominent aspects of today’s society. The American society is infatuated with all the new gadgets, whether it be the latest computer, the newest cell phone, or even the most high tech power-tool on the market. No matter what the technology is, people are swarming around stores to make the purchase. A society that once was dependent on the human mind is now dependent on these high tech gadgets. Everywhere you go, you see and use technology because it is almost impossible to avoid. The reliance on these little devices is transforming humans from independent and creative beings to individuals who have no idea how to function without the use of technology. While the growth of technology is practical for development, our reliance on it is too great and is impacting society negatively.

While at a hockey tournament in the Boston area, I was surprised to find a vending machine that was all touch screen. I had never seen such a high-tech vending machine before and it showed me how society is attempting to simplify our way of life on every level. My teammate, Kaitlyn LaGue, was also stunned to see such a modern device in a hockey arena. This raises questions as to why we find it necessary such modern and technologically advanced devices to purchase a bottle of soda; it’s simply ridiculous. People want and like the transformations that are taking place but are they blind to the negative aspects that will occur as a result?

One of the major concerns with a huge dependence on technology is that it’s not 100 percent reliable. Today’s society puts too much confidence in technology and when it fails, we are clueless. A Global Positioning System, better known as the GPS, is an incredible device that is extremely helpful in getting us from point A to point B. Although it is helpful, it’s not accurate all the time and can get you lost if there have been new roads built in the past few years. When an individual gets lost, they are not only lost in a directional sense but also in the sense that they have absolutely no clue what to do. They probably haven’t printed out directions or brought a map and are completely unprepared because they expected the technology to do all the work. Besides causing us to be unprepared and dependent, there is evidence that this device may have serious long term effects.

An article from MSNBC sites a study that shows that the dependence on the GPS may be eroding our brains. Some drivers use this navigational device so much that they give it a name, almost like they are a member of the family. Studies by McGill University show that the way in which we navigate around today may affect our brain functioning as we age. There are two ways that we can use to find our way around, either by spatial navigation strategy or a stimulus-response strategy. The special navigation strategy or the non GPS strategy forces us to build cognitive maps and use landmarks to help us find our way. The stimulus-response strategy or GPS strategy uses an auto-pilot mode which uses the most efficient route to get from one place to another. Individuals who navigated without the aid of a GPS were shown on fMRI images to have increased activity in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is an area of the brain that is involved in memory, navigation and is helpful in finding shortcuts and new routes. This area of the brain is one of the first areas of the brain to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease, a disease that causes problems with memory and spatial orientation. Bohbot, a researcher at McGill University, suggests that a GPS should be used to get to a new destination but should be turned off on the way back from this new location or when going to familiar locations. Drawing your own map can also be helpful to utilize the spatial navigation strategy. This is believed to be a good idea because Bohbot fears that a reduction in the use of spacial strategy will lead to an early onset of dementia. “We can use GPS to explore the environment, but don’t become dependent on it;” said Bohbot, “developing a cognitive map may take longer, but it’s worth the investment.” 

Think about what happens when the power goes out at your house. There is no television, no computer, no microwave, etc. I know for me, the television and computer are my main hobbies when I’m at my house and I’m almost positive that this is true for most American’s in today’s society. We simply cannot survive in the world as it is now without power because we “need” it. A few years ago a huge power outage brought the entire east coast to a halt. This is evidence that society is overly dependent on technology because they never saw this coming nor did they ever expect anything like this to happen, especially with the modern power grid. Some say this event was a freak occurrence but we need to learn that things like that can and certainly will happen in the future. Technology is great but no matter how developed and high tech the world becomes, we must be able to utilize the skills that we were born with.

Even though technology has improved today’s education by making information much more accessible, it’s also become a distraction to many students. At National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, New York, the internet and advancement in technology has become vital to the community. The school is made up of skiers, lugers, and hockey players whom all have different athletic schedules, which makes access to email and websites such as Apex Learning a necessity. Some of the luge athletes travel for three to four months at a time and online learning is the only option for them to receive an education while following their dream. On the other hand, some athletes at the Academy such as girls hockey players find online learning to be a distraction. While on learning sites such as apex, they have access to many other sites as well. Many students report that they become distracted by sites such as facebook while working on homework and quizzes on the computer. “It’s so tempting to check my facebook when I’m working on my computer,” said Kelsey Lynch, “which is extremely distracting.” She finds facebook so distracting that she asked a friend to change her password in order for her to work on a research paper with as little distractions as possible.

It’s extremely disappointing that technology has proven to have such negative impacts on society considering all of the positive impacts it has. Is it technology that is the problem in society or is it us? Perhaps we don’t have enough self control or patience to deal with not using it. We need to take responsibility for our actions and fix our ideals on how technology should be utilized because we are causing a great thing to have negative connotations. Our dependence and reliance on these gadgets is ridiculous and needs to change in order for us to live healthy lives and lives we were intended to live.