Written by Kristyn Ewing. Media by Sara Dawson.
When thinking about the future of technology, part of me gets excited and the other gets scared. The phrase: “Never let your fear decide your future” really comes true. To help combat this fear, we need to have conversations about “what the technology does” to educate us on the topic. When it comes to future technology, there are many pros and cons that come with it.
When it comes to the pros of the future of technology, I feel as though it will make us completely lazy—not having to do anything. Our quality of life will be even better than it is now, made easier in all areas of life, and more secure. Thanks to companies like Apple, we are already experiencing technology using our senses, which feel more natural to us. Health issues in the future, thanks to technology, can be solved quickly and educate us more. I personally think it’s really neat that I don’t have to learn a foreign language because technology makes it easier and translates it for me. Technology in the future allows for cheaper labor costs, so our money can be spent elsewhere.
The cons of the future of technology is having to trust robots depending on the circumstance. I feel as though, with the future of technology, we will reach a point that we lose our purpose as humans, which, as humans, we were made to work and we have to find other ways to do so. We have to face the uncertainty of not knowing things, yet knowing everything, which is very uncertain. We have no idea how it will transform our lives to adapt to the changes.
More cons are health issues can arise from anything else in our lives, such as losing control and allowing machines to take over. Obviously, a big con that we already experience is losing track of time, which leads to not knowing when to cross the line between work and play. Lastly in my list of cons is having the government get even more involved in all that the future of technology holds.
I will admit I am one who likes natural things just like almost every human on Earth. Phones aren’t natural and we regret looking at our screens, but not the information we get out of them. The Ted Talk below says: “We’re moving from a time of static information, held in books and libraries and bus stops, through a period of digital information, towards a period of fluid information, where your children will expect to be able to access anything, anywhere at any time… We are getting to a point where we are going from a digital cloud to something we might touch and move… Reality is richer than screens.”
As much as we don’t want to think of the future and we want to stick to our own ways and be in control, there are 6 things we should know about the future according to Greg Satell. In the article, he says: “The funny thing about the future. It’s never as fantastic as we hope nor as horrible as we fear. The one thing that’s for sure is that times will change and we will have to adapt.”
My professor, Deloy Cole, said in class something along the lines of: “People are going to be without jobs as robots take over our lives.” While it’s good that we are moving to that destination, let’s not forget that when we reach that destination that our purpose for being on this planet will change dramatically.
What do we do then? I think it’s all about educating ourselves, accepting change, and trusting in God. Future technology can allow us to experience a lot of new things. Being closed to the idea is silly because it’s going to happen whether we want it to or not.
