FINAL BLOG!!!... of the quarter...

This week, I saw the movie Eagle Eye. The movie was about how a computer became really smart and took it's programming over. It began to control life around it in order to satisfy it's own wishes for it's interpretation of the computer's own purpose. This is not the only movie of it's kind. From I Robot, to Smart House, computer's are becoming too independent left and right. I decided to look up a few articles and see what I could find as to the reliance we all put in our technology. The websites stated the same message; that an over-reliance on technology could be dangerous. If my mom takes away my cell phone or my computer, it usually hits me pretty hard as it disables me from instantaneous contact to the world outside of my house. I feel as though my generation grew up with the technology that used to be incredibly rare. At least, for me, when I have no access to anything, I feel claustrophobic. Some people might think of that as weird, seeing as I could get up and go take a walk outside, but it's different when you're on a computer. The user is immediately linked to something much larger than themselves, or even the path around the lake. It's the largest link around the world and none of it is tangible.

Why do we put so much faith in something that we can't even really see? We see our screen but have no knowledge as to how our emails appear in China. If the internet suddenly crashed, worldwide, people could lose everything. Family pictures, to their life works, to control of missiles. The reason why people continue to use the internet is simple. Because everyone else does it. If any one person suddenly refused to enter the cyberworld, they would be left in the dust. Business is done online, as money is made. Students turn in assignments via email and blog posts. The stock market, though not entirely online, appears a great deal on google/finance.

One of the articles I read talked about the blackouts in California. I couldn't even imagine how much production of entertainment and exports that caused. California is one of the most populated states and suddenly, it just disappeared.

I'm not saying that the use of technology should be stopped, or even hindered. To do so would be to hinder the development of society. These thoughts have been causing me to consider downloading things and saving them in a more permanent place. It's just gives me a slightly larger sense of security. From communication to business to entertainment, technology helps us in every way and hopefully, it'll stay that way.

Grohol, John M. "Why Reliance on Technology is a Bad Thing." Psychcentral. 21 Apr. 2005. The American School of Professional Psychology. 28 Oct. 2008 .