Technological Advances; Good or Bad?

In James Carey's article, "Historical Pragmatism and the Internet" Carey discusses a lot about how the internet has changed how we view the world and how we communicate which has in the end caused problems within more than just our social lives but as well as in politics all around the world. We have seen a change in technology throughout decades and it has both advanced how we communicate and do things as a population as well as restricted us and made us much more aware of the world around us, which in turn has not always been a good thing. Carey also discusses briefly how with every new year and new advancement with technology comes the expectation that the world is going to end or something bad is going to happen. Carey also touches briefly on musical literature and how technology alone has made it so that we have forgotten the roots and where music literature originated and how it stuck with us, without any form of technology but merely memorization.

After reading this article by Carey, it made me realize that a lot of these things he brought up were indeed true and very relevant in today's society. Technology just keeps on advancing whether we as a population like it or not. But how is this helping us when it is just making us more segregated within our own boundaries. We have in a sense forgotten how to communicate with one another without any form of technology. Carey also touches on how many people feel that borders that have blocked many people from communication have been broken down, however we do not see those other borders that are constantly being put up with more advances in technology. Cell phones is one example of this, yes we are now capable of talking to someone across the world for a small amount of money. However, the larger companies that make this capable are able to know who, when, how long, and possibly what you talked about without your consent. So even though these boundaries are not there in our eyes, there are many other boundaries that are being put up on a regular basis. Along these lines something seen much more prominent today is these constant advancement with social networking and how it has changed how we communicate with one another along with how we speak to one another.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604,00.html