Negative Impacts of Technological Advancement (Research Paper Sample)

Negative Impacts of Technological Advancement
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Up to modern times, advances in technology have been forthcoming and great leaps in technology have revolutionized how humans relate with each other, additionally lessening the need for effort in doing many tasks. In the modern world, feats that would seem impossible in the past are ordinary and can be done by any common person with the help of technology and advances in it. However, with the unlimited power that technology gives comes consequences on the users and largely to the society.
The Internet is perhaps the most common and widely known form of technology, which is quite instrumental to bridging the geographical gap between its users. From the Internet, social media has risen to become a popular trend amongst a wide demography. The problem with the social media as an advancement of the Internet is its contribution to the switch from traditional forms of communication. Access to the Internet and the social media is reputed to hinder cultural experience, with users merely focused on communicating through these virtual platforms rather than engaging in physical conversations (Woolley 2013: 41). Conventional language is therefore sacrificed in the setup of silence within written language as asserted by Cheever, Rosen, and Carrier (2015: 227). Most notable is that speech in the context of a physical conversation is tampered with because of lack of practice. The other problem related to this is that of unhealthy dependency on technological gadgets (Gordon 2011).
Since the advent of technological gadgets such as PDAs, computers, and smart phones, people are increasingly becoming mechanical and thoroughly dependent on these gadgets for their work. The society is therefore rendered impotent without these instruments. Through extensive research, numerous empirical studies have found a connection between technologies, especially mobile devices and illnesses that may include but not limited to cancer (Harrington 2009: 214). Radiations from mobile phones at unacceptable levels may cause health problems such as vision defects, headaches, and cancers of body parts exposed to this radiation. The list of negative effects from advances in technology stretches further than the above mentioned impacts.
It is perhaps consequential that every great discovery has its own positive and negative influences on its users. The advancement in technology is quite rapid, yet its end is not likely to be in the near ...