A Cost for Technology

Today I read Neil Postman’s talk entitled Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change. Postman’s first assertion in the talk was that the gift of technology invariably comes with a price. Aside from the obvious prevalence of filth available on the web, I have never given much thought to the concept of technology’s negative influences on society—which I suppose is exactly what Postman wanted us to realize. One such repercussion technology has had on mankind is increased impatience. When we obtain some new technology, giving us the ability to quickly accomplish previously time-consuming tasks, we become irritated at the slightest delays or setbacks. This is true even if we finish the task very quickly by the previous standard. For example, how often do we get frustrated when we miss a green light, while driving, and have to wait an additional 30 seconds? Just a few days ago I found myself very annoyed that a sleep routine, which I was using in a program, didn’t provide a resolution higher than 1 second. This meant that I would have to wait a whole second if I used that routine. I think we might be able to use that example as the definition of impatience. I do not, however, believe that these negative consequences outweigh the benefits that new technology brings; we simply need to recognize the problems so that we can better address them.