Issue Essaay Review- As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems...

[krocktaschel]

Looking for some input on my essay....

 

 

As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.

 

 

Throughout civilization, society has demonstrated its desire and ability to develop technologies to solve lives day-to-day problems. While the development of advanced technology has enhanced people’s productivity, it has also produced a society less dependent on critical thinking.

 

Man has traditionally had to research and develop travel routes on his own when planning a vacation or trip. This travel planning often took time and careful consideration of routes, traffic, tolls and the like. Now a traveler can simply plug in a start and end point into a GPS unit and be given multiple routes to choose from. Once the route is selected, the traveler can mindlessly follow the given directions. No longer is the traveler required to think for himself and make rational travel adjustments while on the road. The traveler is also less familiar with the route and his surroundings. Relying on this GPS technology is certainly a quick and easy way to determine a route, but does not help to develop the thought process behind planning a trip.

 

Word processing software also poses a potential drawback of the development of our mind and thinking processes. Growing up in a “pre-word processing” world required the writer to give great attention to important fundamentals of writing, such as spelling, grammar and punctuation, not to mention the development of vocabulary through use of synonyms. With the advent of these word processing technologies, we, as a society, are no longer required to spend as much time proof-reading our written word. This becomes a detriment to our development as it promotes writing without a firm grasp of the nuances of our language. Of course, it could be argued that these technological features enhance the speed and ability of presenting our message, but I believe that it is ultimately set-back to the development of our minds in expressing our thoughts on paper.

 

The continuing advancements in technology have certainly benefited our society in the ability to solve problems, but we need to be mindful to no let the technology unnecessarily hinder the ability to think for ourselves.