This past weekend I went to Virginia Tech to visit my friends. The whole weekend I never got a chance to get on Facebook or use a computer at all. It wasn't like I was too busy since some parts of the day we were just hanging out and watching movies, perfect time for mindless "facebooking". But I never felt a strong urge to actually get on the computer. So maybe I'm not "addicted" to technology. However, that wasn't the case last semester.
I took a class dealing with today's society and the progression of technology. I had to go three days without technology and I couldn't do it fully. That led me to believe that I was addicted to Facebook, TV, etc. Maybe it was only difficult though because I was focused on not using it as opposed to last weekend when it wasn't on my mind.
I'm still trying to get to the answer of my question "Are we addicted to technology?" Dictionary.com defines an addiction as "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma." This does not seem to fit how I or many teens and young adults feel about modern technology. But there has to be more kinds of addictions than what we normally think an addiction is such as drugs and alcohol.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Cracked
I'm going to take the time to write this blog mainly to bounce ideas around my head. Since my blog topic is a question and not a statement of my beliefs, I need to consider all sides of the subject to come to my own conclusion. If you ask and adult maybe 40 years and older, they would claim children and young adults today are addicted to technology. However, if you ask a child or young adult if their generation is addicted they would probably say no. I also can't help but notice the difference in responsibility between the ages which I connected with technology uses just yesterday.
Yesterday I carelessly through my phone to my friend confident that she would catch it. Instead it fell to the ground and the screen cracked in the corner. It is small and my phone still works, but I am upset with myself for being so careless with something I use so much. My friend on the other hand has cracked her phone's screen many many times. Her phone still works but you can hardly read the screen. She even cut her finger on the glass once. We are reckless, not always thinking about consequences before we act. We both have damaged what some would say is our "life-lines".
I find this very ironic. If we are so addicted to our phones, why wouldn't we take more care of it? A person addicted to smoking cigarettes would never throw a pack away due to carelessness. I'm not saying I have proven anything, but this idea I have observed is not consistent with an addiction. But then again, maybe people my age just lack responsibility.
Yesterday I carelessly through my phone to my friend confident that she would catch it. Instead it fell to the ground and the screen cracked in the corner. It is small and my phone still works, but I am upset with myself for being so careless with something I use so much. My friend on the other hand has cracked her phone's screen many many times. Her phone still works but you can hardly read the screen. She even cut her finger on the glass once. We are reckless, not always thinking about consequences before we act. We both have damaged what some would say is our "life-lines".
I find this very ironic. If we are so addicted to our phones, why wouldn't we take more care of it? A person addicted to smoking cigarettes would never throw a pack away due to carelessness. I'm not saying I have proven anything, but this idea I have observed is not consistent with an addiction. But then again, maybe people my age just lack responsibility.
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