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Technology Is Taking Over The World

If I could change my grade point average (GPA), I would go back to last semester. If I

limited my time on my Xbox I would have got some sleep and came to school. I would not have

missed so many days, and have horrible grades. When I stop playing and started coming to

school and doing work. My grades went up and I started doing way better. I have not used my

Xbox for about 4 months now and I’m doing great in school. Technology is the branch of

knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with

society, and the environment. According to Jacqueline Howard of CNN, 81% of adults have

smartphones in the U.S. and they spend about 1 hour and 30 mins daily on average to consume

media. Also out of 168 hours a week people spend 50 hours on technology. ​Technology does

affect human’s ability to get work done by causing distractions, lack of communication,

also it makes people addicted.

Technology does affect human’s ability to get work done because it causes distractions.

Study at West Point tested banning technology in one class and allowing another class to have

the technology. In the class without tech scored higher on their final exams. The world we live in

is full of distractions which can stop us from devoting time and focus to master a skill. Parents

are constantly trying to distract their children (Riley). Kids Perform better without technology

and that parents try to distract kids with it which causes kids not to devote time and focus to

master a skill. Angela Duckworth the author of “Grit: The Power Of Passion and Perseverance”

that “culture has the power to shape our identity”. Naomi Riley the author of this article said:

“Obviously, a lot of the problems comes from our devices”(Riley). These quotes talk about that
our culture/environment makes us how we are (identity) and most problems come from devices

like drama on social media. Not only kids are distracted by technology but adults are too.

Technology causes distractions which affect human’s ability to get work done. Average

office employee spends about 5 hrs a week on their cell phone or computers doing things that

have nothing to do with their jobs. They have questioned 600 workers & senior office managers

at U.S. companies with 20 or more employees asked them what they do on their phones. The

employees said they spend about 42 mins on personal tasks. A study found males(32%) more

commonly check their non-work email, while females(33%) more commonly check social media

networks (Bresiger). Adults also get distracted by their phones/computers at work doing a

personal task like checking their emails or going on social media. Gregory Bresiger the author of

this article said: “If these numbers were true for every full-time worker in the U.S., that would

add up to 15.6 billion in lost productivity every week due to professionals using their mobile

devices for non-work activities”. Gregory Bresiger the author of this article said “All in all, the

average employee could be wasting more than eight hours per work week on activities unrelated

to the job,” (Bresiger). These quotes talk about losing 15.6 billion every week when employees

are on their devices at work plus they be wasting about 8 hrs every week doing a personal task at

work. Employees also doing other things at work on their devices not just working and being on

social media.

Technology causes distractions which affect human’s ability to get work done.

Employees use their phones to visit sports sites, play mobile games, shop or go to entertainment

sites besides going on social media. Workers are going to block sites at work on their phones

more often. Office team official noted that the use of cell phones and other mobile devices has
become an integral part of the personal and professional lives of most people (Bresiger).

Employees at work use their phones and other technology to visit sites that are blocked by their

work and nowadays tech is apart of our everyday lives. Gregory Bresiger the author of this

article said: “More than half of the professionals-58 percent- often use their personal devices at

work to visit pages that are banned by their company, 36 percent jump from 2012 survey”.

Brandi Britton a district president said, “To best manage their time, staff can take advantage of

breaks during lunch and throughout the day catch up on non-work emails or errands” (Bresiger).

These quotes talk about how the percentage went up from 2012 survey of workers visiting pages

that their companies banned. Also that they can take advantage of their lunchtimes to get a

personal task done. Technology doesn't only cause distractions but also causes lack of

communication, for example, people talk more online than in person.

This graph shows

28% people use their phones to talk, 21% of people use their phones to text and 17% use it for
social networking. It shows how much time they spend using it, but they can be doing something

else.

Technology does affect human’s ability to get work done because of lack of

communication.People are more likely to speak to friends and family, through electronic devices

than face to face. At events and parties, guests are attached to their smartphones tweeting or

texting, but no one is truly engaging or interacting with the people around them. Conversations

in person are much more powerful than online (Fowlkes). People use their technology at events

and parties rather than having fun also they like talking to friends and family through them also

conversations in person are better. Ed Keller and Brad Fay the author of “The Face-To-Face

Book” they said, “Social media is big and growing, but it is still dwarfed by the analog world in

which people live and interact,”. Yazino founder Hussein Chahine said “Communication is

constantly evolving. Some people are as used to seeing their friends’ online avatar as they are

their face,”(Fowlkes). These quotes mean that social media and technology is big and still

growing fast but is still not big on interaction. Communication is evolving and people are used to

seeing their friend's avatar online as their faces. People tend to speak online rather than in person

and make memories.

Technology causes lack of communication which affects human’s ability to get work

done. You’ll gain much more from having an in-depth conversation with a friend, rather than

tweeting back and forth with them. 90% of the influential conversations that people have every

day happen offline, while only 8% are online. 11% adults prefer to stay home and communicate

with their devices instead of going out to speak face to face (Fowlkes). Nowadays people stay at

home speaking with friends online and less speaking to them face to face outside somewhere.
Mark Clennon of the University of South Florida said: “People tend to want to show others that

they are having fun than actually having fun themselves,”. Mark Clennon of the University of

South Florida also said: “There’s a greater desire to share with other people you barely know,

than actually hanging out with friends and making memories,” (Fowlkes). These quotes talk

about how people rather post pictures of them having fun than actually having fun and that they

like sharing with strangers than having fun with friends and having memories. Technology is

making adults/teens rather tweet/text than speak in person even kids are involved.

Technology does affect human’s ability to get work done because of lack of social skills

(communication). Most kids spend 75% of their waking lives with their eyes fixed on a screen

also that if they unplug their electronic devices for 24 hrs, they felt extremely lonely and didn’t

know how to fill their time. Social media has both increased & decreased progress in human

communication in society. Verbal communication is essential to human development. Kids are

more dependent upon electronics & less dependent on human interaction (Hampton). Kids are

spending 75% of their lives on technology and they are being dependent on it and less dependent

on human interaction. Social media has positive and negative effects on human communication

in society and verbal communication is important. Gary Turk youtube blogger said “This media

we call social is anything but… we open our computers, and it’s our doors we shut,”. Larry

Rosen a psychology professor said, “children need to use technology at a ratio of one to five,”

(Hampton). These quotes mean that instead of talking in person we close our doors and stay

inside talking online using social media, phones, computers, etc. and that technology should be

limited to kids. Technology doesn’t only cause lack of communication and bad social skills it

also causes addiction.

There is a chorus of experts that claimed that the internet is ruining our lives. The brain is highly

malleable from before our births all the way until our deaths, our network of brain cells actually

change due to outside stimuli. Goldilocks hypothesis found that there is a sweet spot for the

amount of technology use. Too much digital time correlates with lower mental well-being, but so

does too little. Moderate use correlates with the best mental health status (Stibel). Our brain is

always changing from birth to death, it changes by an outside force. The internet is doing it and

ruining our lives, but there is a good enough amount to use the internet. Jeff Stibel the author of

this article “we lament that we no longer know our best friend’s telephone number and that our

phone notifications keep us in a state of distraction”. Jeff Stibel the author of this article

“Everything changes your brain: practicing sports, playing music, reading, taking a walk outside,

even sleeping. Sure, says the skeptic, but those things change us for the good! The internet is

different because it is changing us for the worse. True?” (Stibel). These quotes mean that we are

so addicted to technology that we get distracted with notifications on our phones. Everything

changes our brain is it positive or negative effects on our lives. Our brain is very malleable and

internet (technology) is the main source, but it also causes negative consequences.

Technology causes addiction which affects human’s ability to get work done. Teens are

so dependent on technology but it may lead to negative consequences. Technology dependence

can lead to teen consequences that span from mild annoyance. When away from technology their

feelings become isolation, extreme anxiety and depression. Technology fulfills our natural

human need for stimulation, interaction, and changes in the environment with great efficiency

(FCD Prevention Works). Technology can cause negative consequences like isolation, anxiety,
and depression etc. it fulfills our stimulation needs. FCD Prevention Works the author’s of this

article said: “Technology addiction can be defined as frequent and obsessive technology-related

behavior increasingly practiced despite negative consequences to the user of the technology”.

FCD Prevention Works the author’s of this article said “Technology impacts the pleasure

systems of the brain in ways similar to substances. It provides some of the same rewards that

alcohol and other drugs might: It can be a boredom buster, a social lubricant, and an escape from

reality” (FCD Prevention Works). Technology can have obsessive related behavior it also

impacts the pleasures of our brain. It rewards us like alcohol and drugs do, it also can allow us to

escape reality. Technology cause isolation etc. and also disorders. The speed of internet affects it

a lot.

Technology causes addiction which affects human’s ability to get work done. The speed

of technology is what teens look for and it encourages them for an unhealthy desire for instant

gratification. Slow internet connection can cause irritability and anxiety. Sleep disorders can

develop as teens stay up all night on technology for example Xbox etc. Which causes academic,

athletic and social performance can suffer. Weight gain and poor diet (cardiovascular disease)

social skills deteriorate (FCD Prevention Works). The speed of technology is everything when

comes to using it but if it’s slow it causes anxiety and sleep disorders etc. FCD Prevention Works

the author’s of this article said: “Technology can give students a false sense of relational security

as they communicate with unseen individuals around the world”. FCD Prevention Works the

author of this article said “within a technology- addiction individual, the mind becomes

increasingly unable to distinguish between the lived and the alternate realities that produce

instant stimulation, pleasure, and reward. As such, the extreme use of technology can disrupt
normal patterns of mood and socialization in teens. Dependency upon social media, gaming, or

other platforms to function can become the new and unhealthy “normal”.” (FCD Prevention

Works). These quotes mean that kids gain a false sense of relational security. It also means that

the brain cells can affect it a lot and causes to give us pleasure. Overall technology is very

addicting and it causes diseases and disorders.

Other people believe that technology does affect human’s ability to get work done, but

some people would say that technology doesn’t affect human’s ability to get work done it

actually helps. An example of technology helping is that it helps a lot of people by finding cures

for diseases and help people gain access to the internet to find how to do something or

information.This position seems convincing at first, but there is a lot of negative effects like

technology causes distractions, lack of communication, and addiction. Some examples are that

you can get sleep disorders like insomnia and lack of social skills like people can’t communicate

with a group to work on a project.

Lack of communication, distractions, and addiction is causes of technology affecting

human’s ability to get their work done. Technology affects people by making them distracted

because they are so addicted to their phones, computers etc. Technology can cause many

negative consequences like sleep disorders, cardiovascular disease. Also not doing work at

school, your job instead they are on their phones and computers doing a personal task, nonwork

things. Society should be concerned about this topic because it shows how much people tend to

get distracted and not do work cause they are too busy doing personal things on their phones and

other technology. In the words of Albert Einstein “I fear the day that technology will surpass our

human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”

Bresiger, Gregory. “​This Is How Much Time Employees Spend Slacking Off.”​ New York

Post, New York Post, 29 July 2017,

​ SA
Fowlkes, Jasmine. ​“Viewpoint: Why Social Media Is Destroying Our Social Skills.” U

Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 18 July 2014,

Hampton, Morgan. ​“Technology: Is it making kids anti-social?​” Brigham Young

University. The Daily Universe, 22 August

Porter, Alfonzo.​ “The Problem with Technology in Schools.”​ The Washington Post, WP

Company, 28 Jan. 2013,

​ echnology Addiction |
Prevention Works, FCD. “​Teen Technology Addiction.” T

Hazelden Betty Ford, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, 16 Mar. 2017,

Riley, Naomi Schaefer. “​Today's Tech-Addicted Kids Are Stuck in a World of

Distraction.​”New York Post, New York Post, 22 May 2016,

Stibel, Jeff. ​“How Much Time on Mobile Phones and Online Is Bad for Your Mental

Health?”​ USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 26 Feb. 2018,