Please rate my essay

[Sagnik Banerjee]

Question:

 

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

 

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

 

Response:

 

With the development of science and technology made throughout the human history, especially the past one hundred years or so, people these days are spending more time relying on technology to solve various types of problems. Admittedly, the improvement of technology and its contribution to a more convenient daily life does to certain extent obviate the necessity of many traditional tasks, subtly affecting the humans’ ability of thinking. Nevertheless, as a whole effect in general, technology progress improves working efficiency and labor safety, and frees humans from low-level repetitive physical work to high-level decision-making intellectual work. Therefore, advancement in technology will, in no way, reduce the ability of humans to think.

 

It is true that in many situations, the requirement for thinking seems less demanding than before due to the development of technology as the “brains” of computers have replaced humans’ role in many tasks. For instance, students no longer need to think hard to solve involving algebraic equations as calculators could do the job for them; engineers do not have to worry about the side effect of modifying their design drawings at one place as in the past due to the modern CAD software’s smart updates for all affected parts; people nowadays could simply forget about their previous pains of finding parking lots, when they go shopping at some remote super-markets, as the contemporary online shopping systems will deliver the customers anything they need right away with the help of modern logistics, information technology and advanced transportation tools. The development of technology does so much that humans are no longer required to solve many of the traditional tasks and consequently humans’ ability of thinking seems indeed less explored, exercised or even deteriorating.

 

But does the improvement of technology really eliminate the necessity of thinking and deprive humans of their opportunity of solving problems by themselves? With the fading away of stereotyped problems, such as solving algebraic equation on a piece of sketch paper, people are now faced with completely new types of problems, such as how to utilize calculators and computers to solve more complex problems where instead of the regular manipulation, innovation and creativity are tested. Technology on the one hand frees humans from perfunctory work, yet on the other hand brings in more demanding tasks. In the old days, factory workers had to operate their machines for repeated parts processing which seemed very laborious, however, nowadays they have to program CNC machines for automatic parts manufacturing and tool replacement and they are asked to work on more than one CNC machines as the manager feels the employees are “working less”. Technology does replace humans’ role in many traditional tasks, but technology puts humans in new positions which are more intellectually based.

 

In addition, with the emergence of new technologies, a host of new problems have also turned up. The new technology of utilizing nuclear energy for generating electricity brings forward new questions of its ecological impact when the nuclear plant’s cooling water, contaminated with radiation, is discharged into the rivers and ocean. While the development of antibiotics helped cure many patients with infection, it at the same time also produced the question of bacteria’s developed immunity which makes many previously effective medicines invalid and that whether the development of these antibiotics indirectly facilitates the mutation of bacteria towards a more hazardous and dangerous state. All these new problems never existed before the development of these new technologies and they require far more thinking than the old problems.

 

In conclusion, while technology frees humans from the traditional laborious work, it brings forth new types of problems which are more intellectually intense and even unprecedented. Humans’ mind has been working on all kinds of problems throughout the history to keep up with pace of our world change. With the development of technology, old problems might become obsolete but new problems with more challenges will never stop appearing, ensuring the opportunity for humans’ mind to explore and develop to a higher state and securing the brains’ role of thinking from deteriorating.