Technology and the Human Potential

2020

Caroline Allston, Josh Cumins, Jackson Hunt, and Morgan

Walters

The Self and Technology

In our modern era, technology holds a vital
function in the way we live. We use or integrate
technology into just about everything we do. School,
work, communicating, all kinds of multitasking, and even
surviving (medical technology) are dependent on
technology. As technology moves forward, so will our
world. It is important that we continue our
technologically evolving nature, but might technology
bring forth a negative impact in the future? Will the
people of our current era face cognitive setbacks in the
near future? The article Teens, technology, and human
potential in 2020 points out many important and
relevant thoughts and issues from the eyes of many
smart futurists, scientists, and others. Barry Chudakov,
a consultant out of Florida and a participator in research
at the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at
the University of Toronto pointed out a particularly
interesting point.

The Self and Technology

Chudakov pointed out that by the year 2020, technology will
be so integrated into peoples lives that it will seem to disappear as we
use it. This is what my personal belief is as well. Even today, the barrier
between ones self and technology is relatively small considering how
much we use technology. There is no doubt that by 2020, that already
small barrier will be destroyed. More than we do now, we as humans
will use technology to think with and through technology and it will
become less visible as we use it.
As we become more and more dependant on technology,
humans will lose meaning of a whole, undivided cohesion of mind. This
will be a dangerous struggle in the near future. We will lose much of our
cognitive awareness. Also, we will have short attention spans and only
scan large pieces of information. Even though there are many
negatives, there are some important positives. In my belief, the biggest
positive will the how quickly and easily we will be able to multitask and
solve problems through technology. This will continue the advancement
of our world, but the downside will be the processing of our brains such
as the reasons listed above.

Interesting Website

The Self and Technology

Interesting Website

Additionally, scientists are finding more and more

cases of disorders, diseases, and syndromes due
to overuse of technology. Some examples are
ADHD, obesity, coordination disease, learning
difficulties, and sleep disorders. I believe that by
2020, more and more of these cases will occur or
have occurred due to overuse and over-integration
of technology. We will see many more problems in
the way we learn information, especially for
younger children that are using technology to learn
at early ages.

Technology and Getting Things Done

This article was a survey about the future of the internet, technology to
see whether the younger generations always-on connection to people and
information will turn out to be a net positive or a net negative by 2020. They
said many of the young people growing up hyperconnected to each other and
the mobile Web and counting on the internet as their external brain will be
quick-acting multitaskers who will do well in key respects. At the same time,
these experts predicted that the impact of networked living on todays young will
drive them to thirst for instant gratification, settle for quick choices, and lack
patience. 42% of people said that this much exposure to technology was a bad
thing and would ruin the minds of our future generations. 55% of people said
that this much exposure to technology was a good thing and would improve the
minds of our future generations. I agreed with the 55% percent of people.
In 2020 the brains of multitasking teens and young adults are "wired"
differently from those over age 35 and overall it yields helpful results. They do
not suffer notable cognitive shortcomings as they multitask and cycle quickly
through personal- and work-related tasks. Rather, they are learning more and
they are more adept at finding answers to deep questions, in part because they
can search effectively and access collective intelligence via the internet. In sum,
the changes in learning behavior and cognition among the young generally
produce positive outcomes.

Technology and Getting Things Done

In 2020 technology will have helpful results to
multitasking teens and young adults. Technology will
improve the minds of teens and young adults they will
be able to do things faster and be able to multitask. I
believe that this much exposure to technology will
show significant improvements in productivity. With the
help of more advanced technology teens will be able to
get things done faster and more efficiently. Some may
argue that the use of technology to do work can make
teens become lazy with their work, but the use of
technology can help teens dig deeper and find more
advanced answers to questions. This is why the brains
of teens will yield helpful results in 2020.

Technology: Pro or Con?

Technology has developed greatly over a small period of time, this has allowed us to communicate, share,
and complete things in an easier fashion. This can be very liberating allowing people to multi-task, some say
that technology increases our critical thinking skills. Others would disagree and state that technology is a
distraction that lessens our ability to communicate and converse while using proper etiquette, some might not
even adapt to this higher progression of technology in our rapid and constantly changing society, and will
suffer. Many teachers have noticed a decline in independent thinking and self-reliance instead of being
dependent on their device.From the document I have noticed many biased views because of the position of
the person giving their opinion or general information. There are three basic sides; first the idea that
technology is liberating and will make us excell and provide a guided opportunity for us to follow. Second the
idea that technology wires the brain to cease most critical thinking abilities and prevent us from developing
much needed skills, such as being independent and original with our idea process. The third idea is the idea
that technology is both a blessing and a curse. Technology can be extremely helpful but can also deprive
someone from developing an independent mind. Our thought process has been penetrated by a device that
allows you to search anything and any answer to which we abuse. Proper etiquette is lost through the
process of constant texting or im messaging, although these connections can seem to be quite useful they
can also harm you just as much. Technology is being integrated into jobs, schools, and many more places,
which indicates how rapidly and constantly our society is changing; those who can't adapt to this will suffer
greatly because many people are now dependent on new technology. This can also be a great risk because if
you are over dependent you are most likely addicted and cannot process any independent thoughts. These
lost skills might be the most valued because, being able to both adapt to this new environment and still
maintain your critical thinking skills and communication skills will enhance your ability to thrive in this new
atmosphere. Overall technology can prevent or further enhance your future and ability to succeed and exceed
the mainstream views, progression, and abilities. -Jackson Hunt

Technology: Social Skill Development

The article on human kinetics related to technology presents the
general idea that children at a younger age are more easily
manipulated by the uses of technology. Ninety five to eighty five
percent of most young adults use social networking sites to
communicate instead of physical communication. There is a strong
debate on whether technology has a positive or negative effect on
the youth of society. Overuse or addiction to these types of devices
can aid in developing a narcissistic behavior, thus leading to
isolation. These problems can convince you to do things you would
most likely not do. Also technology such as televisions display
unacceptable violent behaviors, which one might mimic. Although
there seem to be many down sides there are also some positive
outcomes. Being connected into the online social environment can
also be very liberating to make things in life more accessible and
more comprehensible. Overall I believe that technology has created
a distraction and has made a loss of focus among the youth, a
teacher from the 2020 article responded to this topic, that critical
thinking skills are diminishing and and they have lost interest in
retaining any information.
- Jackson Hunt

Technology: Rewiring More Cognitive Skills?

Dave Rogers said that most teens and young adults can gain many cognitive skills such as intellect,
education, and multi-tasking. Dave Rogers also talks about how the Internet can teach kids at a younger age to
learn these cognitive skills because you don't have to know a great amount of verbal skills on technology. "It's
still early but I believe we will see a significant, positive and even astounding improvements in the cognitive
abilities of young people within the next five years." I agree with this idea because technology has certainly
helped me with educational skills and tools like an everyday program my school uses called Google classroom
which contains all of your assignments and homework. Technology has further advanced the learning abilities
and as time goes on, as Dave Roger said, I think that major improvements will be seen. Another point to be
made is that the people who gain these new, technology-stemming skills will be able to gain a wider range of job
options that are related to technology. In an article written by John Mauldin, Advances in technology may
displace certain types of work, but historically they have been a net creator of jobs. I agree with this because as
technology takes the place of jobs, new jobs are created for we need someone to make that type of technology.
If we embrace the advance of technology, we can gain the cognitive skills that will be needed to fulfill these jobs.
Another quote that supports my opinion John Mauldin, We will adapt to these changes by inventing entirely
new types of work, and by taking advantage of uniquely human capabilities." I agree with this also because with
the advance of technology comes the advance of society and we will adapt just as we have in the past but this
time more rapidly.

-Caroline

Bibliography
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