LIFE IN THE FAST LANE: CTRL+C OR CTRL+X?
A Paper Presentation by Christel Joy C. Cruz (BSECE-3A)
When you hear the term “Living in a Digital Age”, what comes first into your mind?
The Digital Age came from society's influence around 150 years ago when businesses
operated in a very different way than they do now. Considering that, prior to the invention of
electricity in the early twentieth century, individuals worked by candlelight completing math
computations on paper, the old fashion way. Now, without technology, the majority of the civilized
world would be at a loss. Imagine not having access to a calculator or the internet for research
purposes. It is difficult to believe that people could have survived without the advanced tools that
we take for granted on a daily basis.
Nowadays, technology overwhelms a big part of our lives, resulting in many controversial
opinions and ideas. Being part of this technological age seems to be quick, connective, and odd
where individuals appear to be with their cellphones or gadgets almost every time on a daily basis,
depending the accessibility of their knowledge in laptops/computers/tablets as opposed to those
books discovered on a dusty library rack. Furthermore, technology and the internet introduced us
to the almost limitless amount of information available making us more connected than ever
before. Can contact almost anyone in the world with a single click of a button and we can keep
ourselves entertained for hours on end. From misspend long periods of watching videos or stuffs
to not feeling like your online media is satisfactory with others and having the sensation of striving
to create oneself on the internet for everybody to see and enjoy. Moreover, when technology took
over its place our lure of freedom is significantly affected, with the help of modern technology,
there is by all accounts a bigger measure of individuals more able to remain in and be on the
internet and their cellphones instead of going out and accomplishing something they can't in their
own homes. Information, media, movies, and other items are easier to access from the comfort of
our own than getting it where we can get these things.
What we are presently witnessing due to pandemic COVID-19 is an obvious instance on
how we live through technology. We've seen how technology has aided us in our battle against the
crisis in recent months. To begin with, several technology platforms are providing official,
dependable, and convenient news, reports, or information about the virus. The government utilized
their national portals, which are accessible through our own technological devices, to cover the
outbreak statistics, travel restrictions, practical security advice, and governmental interventions.
Solid data from the lawmaking bodies aids individuals in making informed decisions regarding
their daily routines and builds public trust. Furthermore, the online platforms that are presently
being utilized for our new normal when it comes to learning and working, such as Microsoft
Teams, Google Meets, and the “Work from Home” arrangements of workers who are unable to
travel to their respective workplaces. During this pandemic, technology played a critical part in
restricting the virus's spread since we may purchase online and wait for it to be delivered without
having to go outdoors or connect with a large number of people. Finally, technology is being
employed as an analytic program to analyze symptoms or diagnoses connected to the COVID-19
epidemic, and vaccinations are being created by utilizing various types of medical technologies in
order to bring this pandemic to a close.
With respect to the statements previously mentioned, it is really evident that technology
offers a wide range of effect in our lives — it made life easier, it allows people to learn more
quickly and connect with individuals all over the globe because of the far-reaching resources it
offers. However, it also welcomes difficulties such as the measure and complexity of information
accessible making it hard for us to zero in on a certain something. Additionally, at the point when
we want to have more face-to-face interaction, our technologically owned devices once in a while
hinders us from making that significant bond. When we need to leave the house and get things
done, we should trust that our technology (e.g., cellphone, laptops, or tablets) will be charged so
that we may bring it with us and do stuffs related to online because obviously in this generation,
no one can leave the house without even bringing a single gadget/technology. Is life in this
technological age going to help us as a race, or will it be our ruin?
Personally, I've observed and experienced a portion of the upsides and negative
consequences of the technology we currently have access to daily. The upside portion of this
technology undeniably benefitted us but we cannot hide that fact that it also affect us oppositely.
The most seen negative consequence having it is the addiction it can pose that may affect not only
us; the user itself, but the individuals surrounding them. Looking back and thinking about how I
wasted my time because I chose to play a computer game and use my technological devices than
be together with the people I value, I realized how technology was harming the relationship I have,
and connections I held close. Like many others, this experience became an eye-opener on how we
took technology for granted, it wasn’t use effectively and instead to be beneficial it somehow
became our distraction. I was able to see how this was causing me harm and was able to break the
habit quickly. Yet, for some people, such as the individual who cannot control their addiction and
unable to utilize technology responsibly, this habit comes with real-life consequences.
In addition to the impact of technology on us and how it affects our daily lives are the fact
and the observed shifting of humanity’s reasoning and way of thinking because of
technologies/internet. As far as some might be concerned, traditionally, critical thinking appears
to have the essence of bringing changes because through these, individuals have the chance to
question or reflect on their knowledge and information presented on them. Unlike today, as related
to the statement mentioned above, most the people depend their knowledge on their technological
devices and can simply look up the answers online, copy and paste without even thinking of
reading or understanding it. As a result, critical thinking is being neglected and tends to be more
difficult way to make when solving problems. Given that we have these kinds of advanced
technologies that can be beneficial to ourselves and our society, we should also be aware that it
also professes problems especially when taken for granted and used irresponsibly just like what is
mentioned above; and some of these problems are potential hacking, trolling/bullying on the
internet, and utilizing the internet as a distraction rather than a helpful tool for the average
individual because we lack knowledge on how to use it. We tend to do things without even thinking
critically because we believed that everything related to technology is good for us but most of the
time the outcome tends to become the opposite of what we are expecting. According to the articles
I have read, really, technology paved the way for what we can do today and how advanced they
are and that it also affects us negatively nevertheless despite these downsides of technology we
may still broaden our human experience and learn to become more technologically dependent if
we will just not forget all the learnings we had before these technologies such as our ability to
think critically because obviously, with all the access we have right now we can be a more effective
human being if we combine these information with critical thinking and responsible usage.
In conclusion, living in a technological age is unusual and not quite the same as that of which
ages before us have survived. We seem to be more connected than before, but we are also isolating
ourselves more than ever. As a student who is exposed to these changes, I witnessed that
technological advancements promote social changes like never before. The internet provides a
platform for people to tell their stories while also bringing ideas from all over the world together.
It's also a place where people can be harmed by their own addictions or benefited by using it as
research and thought tool. Technology has upside and negative effects on our life but by using it
responsibly we can be more than effective than we are now. Imagine having these advances we
have and using them responsibly and critically, what a world we can create for the succeeding
generations.
Technology is an extension of ourselves, a tool to aid our evolution, and as the motivator
for humankind's evolution into a race that is faster, smarter, and stronger. However, that sounds
like something out of a science fiction novel. Maybe this change in humankind isn't too far off if
we use our technologies in a way that benefits us. Technology is either a curse or a blessing
depends on how we use it.
References:

Safsel, D. (2019, September 2). Living In A Digital Age - Daniel Safsel. Medium.
https://medium.com/@dsafsel123/living-in-a-digital-age-6ae57c03caa

K.S.M.S.P.S. (n.d.). “ Role Of Information Technology In Modern Technical Era.”
Https://Www.Iosrjournals.Org/.
Retrieved
October
9,
2021,
https://www.streetdirectory.com/etoday/the-importance-of-information-technologypllaol.html

https://www.streetdirectory.com/etoday/the-importance-of-information-technologypllaol.html

http://suemcled.blogspot.com/2020/04/isolation-8.html
from