Dehumanization by Technology

Dehumanization by Technology

There’s no denying that technology is an important contributor to life itself. In other words, it has not only made what was once impossible, possible. But it has also facilitated peoples way of living. People communicate a lot faster, and in various ways, without difficulty. People are also more aware and have the option of being well informed about what’s going on all around them with just the click of a button. However, despite the success that has been brought upon by the existence and the usage of technology, it has also played an enormously negative role in the lives of people. People are taking advantage of technology and are not taking the time to do simple tasks by themselves. Technology is evidently making people lazy, unintelligent, and ignorant.

Technology is keeping people from doing even the smallest tasks by themselves simply because there’s a much easier way, because of this, people are becoming more and more lazy. Tim Wu, an American academic and internet policy advocate, states in his article, As Technology Gets Better, Will Society Get Worse? “We spend the most to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. (When it comes to technologies we mainly want to make things easy) (2).” Tim is saying that people are trying to simplify even the smallest of things at whatever cost because it’s worth not doing it themselves at all. If it can be done with just the press of a button, then why would people waste their time doing it themselves.

Although some people might argue that technology has and continues to improve the way in which we live as a world, technology remains a big concern globally. It’s hard to find a part of the world that technology has not yet touched. It’s reached just about every corner of the world and has in some cases, made things worse for people. As Tim Wu mentions in his article, “an isolated area south of the Hudson Bay. Here live the Oji-Cree...the people live a rugged rigorous life with plenty of exercise.” Wu then continues by saying, “since the arrival of new technologies, the population has suffered a massive increase in morbid obesity, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes (2).” Because of the introduction of technology in a place where there was once none, the way that people lived not only changed but the people began to change as well and not in a good way.

Also, technology is making people unintelligent and ignorant, and is keeping them from thinking for themselves and by themselves. As Nicholas Carr mentioned in his article, Is Google Making Us Stupid? “In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates...feared that, as people came to rely on the written word as a substitute for the knowledge they used to carry inside their heads, they would, in the words of one of the dialogues characters...‘be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant’ (7).” This goes to show that people only think of themselves as wise because they got something done. But it’s how it was done that determines how much they know. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out step by step procedures but it does take a good amount of intelligence to get things done on ones own.

All in all, yes the existence of technology has been great and it has brought upon a lot of positive changes, developments, and unification. But it is toxic. One must know how to use it and when to use it in order to grow as an individual and in order to keep human like instincts. Too much of it will not only dehumanize the people of today and the people that are yet to come but it will run the world as opposed to being ran by the world. How ironic would it be to wake up one day knowing that what humans once created is now bigger than the creators themselves.

Illegal Immigrants Surpassing American Citizens

There’s no question that illegal immigration is constantly tossed around like a pingpong ball. Making the debate on whether or not immigrants should be granted amnesty, neverending. The U.S was founded by people who are now referred to as, “immigrants” these immigrants being the “undocumented,” “the aliens,” the “illegal people.” When the only real immigrants here are the “Americans” themselves, the citizens of the U.S. However, American citizens still argue that this is their land, a land constantly referred to as “the land of the free,” is not so free after all when it comes to the undocumented people that come from all over the world looking for a better life. But most of all, American citizens fear being surpassed by a different race.

Some Americans argue that spending money on granting amnesty to immigrants is just not worth the cost. Ed Butowsky, a highly international recognized wealth manager and financial advisor states, “we simply can’t afford it. Amnesty will cost you, the American taxpayer a fortune” (1). This is why so many American citizens are opposed to it, it’s not all about the undocumented immigrants, but the money. Americans don’t want their money to go towards something that does not benefit them. However, Americans fail to keep in mind that immigrants are also contributing towards that sum of money that they (American citizens) fail to spend. Taxpayers are not just all legal citizens but illegal immigrants as well. Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times writer says, “they (immigrants) have contributed $100 billion to Social Security over a decade without any intention of collecting benefits...houses headed by unauthorized immigrants paid another $11 billion in taxes in 2010 alone.” This goes to show that immigrants are paying for something that does not benefit them all while some Americans refuse to do the same for them.

Most Americans also fear that immigrants will begin to change the world in which they live in. They’re afraid of assimilation but yet they want immigrants to assimilate to their American ways. This is hypocrisy at its best. Theodore Roosevelt once said in 1918, “every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country” (1). This goes to show that the fear of assimilation by illegal immigrants, in the U.S, by American citizens, has been thriving and keeping American citizens at the edge of their seats since 1918 and maybe even far longer than that. Nicholas Kristof then continues by saying, “many Americans see foreigners moving into their towns, see signs in Spanish, and fret about changes to the traditional fabric of society” (1). It seems like the only thing Americans are afraid of here, is change. They’re afraid that they’ll become less superior because as of now, and as of always, whites in general have been seen as the “superior” race. Americans see America the way that their white ancestors left it, but fail to see that before their white ancestors, Natives inhabited this land.

All in all, immigration will never be fully resolved because underneath it all lies racism and inequality. Granting amnesty would be one step forward and then another two steps back. Amnesty has been given to the undocumented before but what about the undocumented people now? History is repeating itself because some of the American citizens alive now, hold the same beliefs their ancestors had who were strongly opposed to legalizing immigration. People make change, and change also makes people. The day that we all start thinking as one and for one and not just for ourselves, is the day that we will advance to a better world, together.