Final Blog Post - How Does Technology Affect Us?

        Futurama, a seemingly perfect world where technology and humans lived together in harmony. Fully functioning computers, vehicles, space stations, transportation, industrial machines. People could only dream of what the future would bring. It's safe to say they would probably be a little disappointed to see the way things turned out. When it comes to technology, I have a lot of differing opinions that can feel contradictory at times. There are so many positives to it, but also a great deal of problems that have arisen alongside its development, many of them unforeseen. Technology truly is an amazing thing, as Professor Smith stated; it is quite extraordinary that we literally have entire computers that we carry everywhere with us and all you have to do is reach in your pocket. The creation of social media has allowed people to reconnect and stay in touch with life-long friends and family they haven't seen in years. It is becoming so advanced that we have artificial intelligence that is already being said to have consciousness. People are buying electric, self-driving cars, and we've only just begun venturing into commercial space travel. It really is amazing how far we've come since the invention of even just the first smartphone, let-alone the first instances of computers. I am continuously mesmerized by technology and its capabilities, but I also fall victim to many of the problems that arise with it. 

    As much as I love technology, I do believe that my relationship with it is not the healthiest. It's no surprise that this entire generation is addicted to their phones. When it comes to me personally, I think that I have definitely fallen into the trap of social media, many times instinctively going to grab my device when I have even just a second of free time. I will often lose focus and can end up using my phone for hours. This is why I try to do things like set time limits on certain apps in order to stop myself from getting lost on my screen. The thing is, I know that I have a problem with how much I use technology, and I am trying to do my best to healthily distance myself from it. Sadly, that is not the case with a lot of kids now. I was lucky enough to partially grow up in a time where having a smartphone wasn't the norm and when people were still learning to understand the internet. I am now watching young kids, sometimes toddlers, already being given their own phones or tablets. They're being raised from a young age to rely on these devices. Children are supposed to be the most imaginative, energetic, and enthusiastic of all our species. Now they are being conditioned to stare at a screen. If people my age and older are struggling to put down their device, I can only imagine what it is doing to the modern youth. I grew up using my creativity to build LEGO's and draw cartoons, and now that part of the brain isn't being exercised when all these kids do is watch videos and play games on their phone. I think we've come to a point where there isn't a whole lot we can do as a society, it is really up to the individual now. I know that I am going to do everything in my power to limit my own children from becoming dependent on their devices. 

    This obsession with phones is ultimately causing many people to lack in not just independency from technology, but normal social development. Basic fundamental skills in human interaction are now becoming a huge effort and a fear for many people. This disconnect from reality through the screen has caused anxiety and depression in a large portion of the population. People are so scared to simply call strangers on the phone, and to even interact with people in stores or restaurants. I like to consider myself a pretty sociable person and I value social interaction. I think it really is sad to see a group of people all hanging out in the same room, all glued to their screens and not saying a word. I've been in situations like that and sometimes just give up because it seems like everyone would rather just be on their phone. It's almost like we feel like we're missing out if we aren't checking our devices every minute and instead just living in the moment. My mom certainly struggles with this. My dad also wastes time on his phone but he is pretty against using them when we are at the dinner table or in public as a family. When it comes to my mom, she is always going on her phone in the middle of a conversation. Sometimes I'll  be talking and I realize that she's texting someone or reading an email and hasn't heard a word I said. To see that I can have more self control than someone who grew up most of their lives without this technology, just shows how powerful it is. My mom has said herself that technology has caused her to have a fear of calling strangers on the phone that she never had growing up. So it is not just the new generation that is struggling socially, it's everyone. Even adults are reverting backwards with their social behavior and forgetting what they did before the constant presence of technology.

    I think that it's so difficult to say whether technology as a whole is making us dumber or smarter. It really depends on the person and the way that they utilize the technology. I believe that people are certainly becoming dumber when all they do is watch short videos and play games all day. It isn't a terrible thing to go on social media or waste some time on your phone, but only when in moderation. However, people are rotting their brains and become zombies by looking at a screen of nothingness all day. The internet can be used to genuinely expand your mind and knowledge if you want it to. There is an endless amount of information that we can access and learn from. We can study the history of the world, economics, ethics, psychology, nature, geography, science, art, the list goes on. There are also things like brain training that can be used to improve cognitive function. Reading and writing stimulate the entire brain and can make improve your intelligence. Instead people tend to go for the easier instant gratification of pointless videos and photos. Overall, I think technology does make people smarter but only if used properly, but since most people don't use it in a productive way, I think it has made the majority of people dumber. If someone is constantly reading articles online, doing brain training, using medical devices to help psychological and neurological brainwaves, studying languages and different topics, then of course they will become smarter. It's just that the vast number of people aren't taking advantage of all these tools and are instead using the technology to lower their linguistic, logical, spatial, emotional and social intelligence all at once.

    To me, one of the most detrimental aspects of technology, and social media especially, is the diminishing attention spans of not only my generation, but those before me! I tend to actually think I have a better attention span than my own mother and father nowadays. I do really try to make an effort to force myself to pay attention when something seems boring or slow, which is even more difficult for me since I have ADHD. I often apply this to the movies and TV series that I'm watching. I want to pursue a career in film, so I find it important to watch a lot of older and foreign films. A lot of these older movies are on the slower side but I have grown to absolutely love them and call many of them my favorites. I always force myself to get immersed in the movie and refrain from looking at my phone. I've come to learn that this really makes for a much more impactful viewing experience. I wasn't always like this however, and I used to hate on black and white movies, thinking they were boring. It took some maturing for me to take a step back and truly appreciate something, instead of refocusing my attention every five seconds. When I watch movies with my friends they are constantly on their phones, unable to focus on a movie for more than a few minutes at a time. It really gets on my nerve when those same friends are asking me what even happened in the film or TV show because they weren't watching. It makes me begin to question what the point even is to watch something if you don't know what's going on. It's just background noise at that point and it seems like people will have the TV on as a comfort more than something they're actively watching. People just want an endless stream of stimulation at all times and aren't even satisfied with one screen, but need two, or even more!

       My online footprint is somewhat minimal as far as I know. I have the basic social media apps like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, but my accounts are private so not just anyone can see pictures or information about me. I don't post highly personal or incriminating things anyways but it is still good to know I don't have all my photos open to the public. I have a LinkedIn account too, but when it comes to prospective employers and what they would find on the rest of the internet I think they would be overall pleased. I searched myself on Google and there's a few things I found. There were some basic articles like my middle school graduation as well as my high school graduation. There was another result that doesn't show up as easily, but is discoverable if you dig a little. It is the episode of a television series called A Baby Story, that documents my birth. A Baby Story follows a different pregnant couple each episode, showing how they met, the process of the pregnancy, and the actual birth and infancy of the baby. So my parents obviously were featured in an episode and you can see record of it on IMDb under "Baby Wipf". The last and most prominent thing that shows up when you search my name is a handful of articles and a CNN interview from 2012, when I was a finalist in Warren Buffet's business idea competition. The Secret Millionaire's Club Challenge was basically a contest where individuals and groups submitted new  business ideas that could eventually be used in real life. The finalists were flown out to Omaha to present in front of a panel of judges, including Warren Buffett himself. Unfortunately, (and in my opinion, unjustly) we lost to a team whose idea was a school store on wheels, but we all met Warren Buffett and were gifted 10 shares each of his Berkshire Hathaway B stock. I am only going into such depth because these are the things potential employers would read if they did search for me. I think the image that is being painted of me is actually pretty good, maybe even better than my real image. People can see that I was able to graduate middle school and high school, so that's always a positive thing. They can also see my LinkedIn which has my previous work as a lifeguard/counselor, delivery driver, and the work I did at a camera equipment company. Being born on a TV show is obviously pretty cool, but it doesn't necessarily impact me getting a job, but it definitely doesn't hurt and maybe gives me a little more diversity. All of the information about me participating in the contest is probably the most substantial part of my online footprint, at least with getting a job. Although it was a while ago, I think it shows initiative and creativity from a young age. I don't think there is anything that needs to be edited out of my online presence. I don't have any sort of criminal record and it seems like everything you can find about me is an accomplishment of mine. I am lucky to not have any misinformation or anything about me on the internet. 

    Technology really dates all the way back to the stone age when the first tools were being developed. However, when we think of technology now we are almost always picturing the electronic world, especially the internet and the devices we access it on. There are so many different types of technology one can talk about. As I said before, things like self-driving cars, space travel, nuclear and solar energy, robots, smart homes, medical equipment, are all parts of technology that affect us daily and have also caused a lot of problems. I chose to focus primarily on the electronics we frequent every day, our computers, our phones, tablets, video game consoles because it seemed like there was an emphasis on this kind of technology for this prompt. These devices are where people are spending so much of their time now, including me. Although, I am happy that I'm able to recognize even I have an issue with technology and that I want to become less reliant on it. Many people are perfectly content with their overuse of these devices and aren't doing anything to combat it, which will eventually cause them to deteriorate into unproductive and non-functioning members of society. I think you're probably better off just watching the "Mad World" video then reading all this because it really just sums it all up. Everyone is pretty much just totally fine with the state of how we use technology. I would like to think that I have always been a pretty open-minded and outgoing person, and I think this contributed to my current perspective on technology. When I was younger I didn't understand why my parents wouldn't let play video games every waking hour of the day like I wanted to. Now I've really come to see the negative affects this tech has had through an outsider lens, watching as people can't look away from their screen while doing just about anything. I mentioned this before, but at this point I think we've accepted the state of technology's presence as a society. There is no rule or law that could be put in place that would regulate technology usage and actually be approved by the public. It is now up to individual people to do what they can to help themselves and those around them. Try not grabbing your phone first thing in the morning, instead of watching videos, read a book, stop resorting to looking at your screen with even the slightest instance of discomfort. These are just some of the ways we can make a change in our own lives and hopefully stick around as the dying breed in a world of screen-addicted slaves. At least just enough to keep the earth barely spinning. 

Brown, Cecilia. “Are We Becoming More Socially Awkward? an Analysis of the Relationship between Technological Communication Use and Social Skills in College Students.” Digital Commons @ Connecticut College, https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/psychhp/40/.

Englert, Veronica. “Smartphones and Scatterbrains: Technology Use and Attention Span.” Murray State's Digital Commons, https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/scholarsweek/Spring2019/Psych_Brummer/1/.

Nature Internet Addiction - Imageworks, LLC. http://virtual-addiction.imageworksllc.com/wp-content/pdf/nature_internet_addiction.pdf.