Will Technology Outpace Us?

Last week we discussed technology and its affects on our society.

With great advances in communication, the medical field, the military, and entertainment, humans are becoming evermore dependent on digital devices.

There are clear benefits to these innovations.  Lasers, computers, cameras, and robots have equipped those in the medical field to deepen their research, develop medicines and vaccines, trace diseases within the body, and perform intricate, delicate surgeries that save lives.

In the field of communication, new technologies have given the world population greater access to information.  As consumers, we can have access to information from a growing number of sources (sites, blogs) twenty-four hours a day.  We can access headlines from our bedrooms and debate with friends around the globe in real time.  Sites, such as Wikileaks (or even TMZ) are able to publish dangerous, or scandalous information.  We, as students, can publish our own ideas, thoughts, and opinions through such networks as Facebook, Blogger, and Twitter.

These technologies have also been credited with enhancing education.  Smartboards, computer labs, and even the iPad have crept into classrooms with great appeal.  These technologies allow students greater access to information and provide new platforms for creativity.  Interactive education has won the day.  Even in lesser developed parts of the world, where the quality of education is slim or nil, students are learning new skills through YouTube tutorials (check out the Khan Academy).




But are there negative affects to the influx of technology in our lives.

We are now susceptible to new dilemmas, such as online scams, spam, identity theft, and hacking.  Are we relying too much on technology, or is this just the scary, infant stages of the Age of Information.  We share more now with a world that may (or may not) be watching.  We have digital footprints that can be traced, saved, and stored.  Our online activities are monitored by Google and Facebook and are sold to advertisers.

Where is the line?

Will we always be so apprehensive, or will we just get used to all of this connectivity?



Because the technology  is not going away.  In fact, it is expanding everyday.  Are we changing it, or is it changing us?





A recent NYU study claims that Google is actually effecting our memories.  Its authors claim that the human brain no longer needs to remember so much data, because Google does it for us.  This may sound like a creepy sci-fi premise, but it is not necessarily a bad thing.  Maybe this is evolution.



According to the study, our brains no longer need to remember the finer details of information.  We just need to know how to access it and where to go for it.  We need to remember the paths to such information.  Knowing the way to may actually be more important than knowing it itself  (Hmm?).  We no longer need to memorize certain data, because, thanks to Google and other sites, that information will always be available.  We just need to know how to get to it.

Weird?  This is the Age of Information.