Undoubtedly, technology is one of the crucial aspects of today’s world. Human beings are closely connected with the features of technology. The 21st century can be considered as the era of technology which enormously changes the life patterns of people. People are more informed and concerned about the universe. As a matter of fact, change is the one crucial aspect that is closely connected to the facet of technological advancement. Every day, people experience and utilize different forms of technological advancement. This changing paradigm drastically changes the social scenario of the societies as well. It seems that the meaning of social values and practices changes due to the development of the technological industry. The interpretation of happiness has changed as people are more connected with technological enhancement and different forms of innovation. It is happening because technology has to change the lifestyle patterns of people. The feature of technological advancement provides them with many options to connect with other people, and it also becomes the reason for ease in their lives. The impact of technology is so influential that it changes humans as an entity. The growing feature of technology impacts the thinking and feeling process of humans. People’s beliefs and feelings about different aspects immensely depend on the element of technology. Here, the particular focus is to discover how the modern era of technology influences the social life of humans concerning the paradigm of real happiness for them.
It is one of the researchers’ major concerns to analyze technology’s impact on human beings. They develop different dimensions to explore this particular paradigm. An example of extensive research that provides indications of the possible reasons for the impact of technology on the social values of human beings is “We Are a Camera” and “Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era” are two effective examples of the literature which helps to understand the growing feature of technology and its impact on the lives of humans. The article “We Are a Camera” was written by Nick Paumgarten. There is no doubt that Paumgarten successfully presents the impact of technology on human beings, referring to the philosophical feature. He introduces readers to the innovation of the GoPro recording camera, which can influence people’s lives immensely. This particular article provides information about Aaron Chase, a professional mountain biker. He was sponsored by the GoPro camera because he extensively uses a form of the camera to make different videos. There is consideration of the life experience that comes up with capturing life moments through the camera. Capturing different moments through the camera becomes the ultimate reason for the hoy and happiness of people. It happens when they feel connected with the crucial feature of pleasant memories. The author successfully develops the idea of technology’s connectivity to humans’ emotions as people refresh their memories through old pictures. Paumgarten critically describes the features of the GoPro camera: “The wide-angle lens takes in so broad a field (everything in focus, everything lit) that you need only point it in a general direction, and you can expect to capture something good.”(Paumgarten). Paumgarten effectively explains the extensive development of the technology in the form of a GoPro camera. The advanced feature of the camera makes it possible to capture moments of life in a clear manner. These pictures later give an immense level of happiness to people in the form of memories and experiences.
“Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era” is another crucial article that addresses the features of technology concerning the everyday life routine of humans. Richard Restek writes this particular article. Restek successfully describes the different implications of technology on humans. The overall facet of this article is different from “We Are a Camera” because it identifies the different negative features associated with the paradigm of technology. Restek apprehends the idea of how technology can negatively impact people’s health. Undoubtedly, it becomes difficult for people to remember all important things and effectively work with a proper level of concentration. The negative impact of technology is discussed in this particular essay with the consideration of the proper functioning of the brain. Restek explains that different technological advancements are becoming necessary features that divert the concentration of humans. This particular concept is explained as: “The plasticity of our brains, besides responding to the people and training to which we expose it, also respond, for good or bad, to the technology all around us: television, movies, cell phones, e-mail, laptop computers, and the Internet.”(Restak). The immense level of technological advancement impacts the regular functioning of the brain. The extensive response to the technology impacts the overall organization of the brain. The extensive form of information due to technology also impacts the behavioral patterns of society. Increasing the amount of information available changes the overall society with the consideration of its processing. Undoubtedly, it is a fact of today’s society that technology negatively impacts the health of humans. Advancement and modernity of societies in the form of technological advancement impact the brain functioning of individuals. It is crucial to mention that the entire focus of Restak in this particular article is to highlight the negative features of the technology specifically related to human health.
The focus of both the considered articles is to highlight the features of technology concerning human beings. It is notable to mention that Paumgarten and Restak identify the different facets of technological development. The particular concern of the Paumgartne in the article, “We Are a Camera” is to define technology as the facet of happiness for human beings. It is the explanation of the connectivity of humans with different forms of technology. Paumgarten comes up with the opinion that technology can play a vital role in the enhancement of human happiness. He considers the example of the camera and connects it with human happiness with the consideration of the philosophical aspect. He explains the features of the GoPro culture in a detailed manner to formulate its deep connection with life. He comes up with the opinion that life can be considered as the footage. Nowadays, people are able to feel a strong connection with their memories because they have the technology to do so. The effectiveness of the GoPro is defined by the author as: “It may not be fair to say that it’s the camera that causes people to attempt to brush the ground while flying past an outcrop in a wingsuit, but perhaps seeing it done on film inspires other people to try.”(Paumgarten). Paumgarten successfully ponders the idea of the successful implication of the camera referring to the overall universal scenario. Verily, there is the existence of the universal acceptance of this technological advancement. People want to preserve their life experiences with the help of video cameras. Different technological developments extensively attract people to utilize them in their daily life routines. It is also suggested that it becomes difficult for people to avoid different technological innovations such as a camera.
Restak indicates the different aspects of technology as compared to Paumgarten. Restak illustrates some features of hazards for humans due to technology in his article, “Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era.” He effectively explains the overall development of the brain concerning the external environment. This article provides the necessary idea that the human body’s brain reacts to the different facets of society, which changes due to the development of technology or the different forms of innovation. According to Restak, the evolution of society and technological advancement can be characterized as the driving force that compels the brain to change and react according to the changing paradigm of society. The positive impact of this technological shift can be defined in the form of multitasking. Human brains become more capable of adopting the multitasking facet to deal with society’s different changing patterns. The negative feature of multitasking is that it makes it immensely difficult for people to concentrate on their specific goals and objectives. Humans’ minds are occupied by the immense development of technology. It has become difficult for people to deal with the different technological advancements such as Facebook, Twitter, video games, etc. This sort of multitasking makes it immensely difficult for humans to sustain their focus. This specific idea is explained as: “A line of moving type that provided information on other news items.”(Restak). It is a clear indication that today, people can respond to many things, but they are unable to focus on the different facets of life effectively. It can be explained through the help of one example, as nowadays people adopt a particular feature of talking on a call while doing something else as well. The feature of multitasking can be considered an effective facet to adopt if it comes up with major goals and objectives.
“Reporting Live from Tomorrow” by Daniel Gilbert is another example of a discussion of a facet of technology considering today’s world. This particular article successfully provides evidence that indicates how the role of technology is growing day by day. Gilbert successfully conveys the concept of surrogates in this particular article. It provides necessary information concerning the importance of surrogates and how they can benefit humans in different and effective forms. It is crucial for humans to understand that it is immensely difficult for them to anticipate the future directions. There are very few changes when people can forecast the future’s overall feel. Most people have the wrong judgment about a particular feature than how they feel about different things (Gilbert). Usually, they remain unable to judge the actual reasons for happiness as the societal paradigm becomes complex daily. It is also notable to mention that most people connect their form of happiness with others. They rely on their emotions and the consideration of others.
To conclude, it is necessary to mention that every feature comes up with positives and negatives. It also happens in the case of technology. Technological advancement makes it difficult for people to make actual considerations and consequences related to the facet of true happiness and success. The existence of this feature makes it possible for humans to use technology as a tool for happiness and comfort. It is also crucial to consider the different challenges that are closely related to the facet of technological development in society.
Work Cited
Gilbert, D. Stumbling on Happiness. Knopf Canada, 2009, https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=2U-HbwwjR24C.
Paumgarten, Nick. “We Are A Camera.” The New Yorker, 22 Sept. 2014, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/22/camera.
Restak, Richard. The New Brain: How the Modern Age Is Rewiring Your Mind. 2003.
