Amanda IliadisMs. MaynardENG3U104Feb 26TH 2013

The Dawn of TechnologyFrom the first flicker of technology, life has been blooming

with toxic possibilities. The window to electronic advances began

with the first motion picture camera; the beginning of our ruin.

Television, a universal door to the world around us has closed our

imaginary minds. The invention of the first computer commenced

the negative social networking issues today. Finally, robotics and

genetics are beginning to become increasingly more useful; but

soon we won’t even be the ones running our own lives.

Technology has and will continue, to have a negative impact on

our lives because it is becoming increasingly more scary and

controlling. Therefore, technology; developing too rapidly will be

the end of mankind because through electronic advances we will

become entirely based on it allowing our minds to be useless.

The creation of electronic technology, which completely

began in 1880, shaped our world for the worse. Thomas Edison, a

famous inventor of many useful things has also created many

destructible instruments to which humans lie so conveniently on.

By relying on his inventions we have been subjected to many

problems for today’s society. A lot of the things we use today

have been passed down from him. Edison’s motion picture

camera has

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led to the invention of the modern day cam corder and digital

camera making it easier for people to be violated by predators.

“In 1896 Edison started the National Phonograph Co. with the

intent of making phonographs for home amusement” (Bellis, 3).

However now, people have web cams and other devices allowing

them to stalk people from their own homes. It is a sickening

world we live in, and if Edison had never invented the camera,

that risk of being stalked and watched would be lowered. Not

only did Edison unintentionally help predators, he also managed

to invent something that changed prison life for many years.

Along with one of his researchers, Harold Brown, “Thomas

Edison… [Was] responsible for the use of the electric chair in

prison (Beavertrees). Knowing that he probably didn’t intend for

things to turn out this way, they did. His inventions led us on a

dangerous path through the cycle of technology, and it continues

to get worse. Partly Because Of Edison, humans will continue to

dive deeper into things we do not fuller understand and advance

the world around us in hopes of doing something right.

Television has corrupted the minds of children and adults

alike since the invention of the first. Philo Farnsworth’s invention

of the first television in 1927 has made it possible for humans to

begin filling their minds with false images. Parents believe that

“television can be considered a bad influence” (Bizymoms).

Horror movies, shows with too much sexual orientation, and

extreme violence contribute to those false images and portray

things as right when they are actually wrong. Not only adults and

elderly people can be

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affected; children are the number one victims. Scientists say that

“[t]he first two years of life is considered a critical time for brain

development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way

of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others;

which encourages learning, and healthy physical and social

development” (KidsHealth). So on the whole; television has

damaged us all as a human species because it has changed the

way we look, the way we feel, and how we eat. Thanks to TV “far

too many of us have become overweight, and out of shape couch

potatoes” (Mitchell). This is absolutely right. But it is also eating

in front of the TV that has encouraged it. We eat while we watch

to comfort us; whether it is during a sad movie or one full of

action. That’s not what we should be doing. Television has

corrupted our minds, our eating habits, our physical forms, and

even our hearts because it is not what was intended in the first

place for us.

Computers dating back since 1937 continuing to flourish

have contributed to brain deficiency, loss of memory, and early

depression. Charles Babbage invented the first computer in

1837; it was the first “analytical engine” (ComputerHope).

Although it can be argued that computers have actually helped

humans, this is false. Computers have given modern humans an

escape and an excuse to not think for themselves. Children who

use the computer “may be at risk for developing vision problems”

(Jernigan, 1). Vision problems are only one of the several. It will

also make their brains fuzzy, and contribute to depression and a

lack of social development. Adults have also given reports on

how they

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feel now after being exposed to so many years of computers.

One woman states that “over the past few years [she’s] had an

uncomfortable sense that someone of something has been

tinkering with [her] brain, re-mapping neutral circuitry,

reprogramming memory” (Carr,1). All these things are what can

happen to you by interacting too much with the computer. The

last and most scary point of all is social networking. By putting up

your address, phone number, or email for all to see, you are

reeling in the online predators without even realizing it. Overall,

computers (or whatever they’ll be called in 100 years from now)

are dangerous for one’s safety and health.

The future is coming. Soon, we won’t even be the ones

running our own lives. We’ve all seen movies like ‘I robot’ and

‘the matrix’, but what about movie like ‘I am legend’ or ‘planet of

the Apes’? In one case, robotics threatens to take over, and in

the other, man-made genetics ends up destroying the world. Why

do you think directors and producers decide to make those

movies? There must be a reason…luckily there is. With robots

being made in Japan and the U.S that “can roll around and

speak…it blinks as if surprised, stops moving, and turns its gaze

toward the person who touches it. It will also try and grab a toy

dangled in front of it.” (MailOnline). Who’s to say that one day

the robots might flick the switch by themselves and become so

advanced that even we can’t stop them? Genetics have come a

long way too. We’ve gone from mutations, to test-tube babies, to

cloning, to Goodness knows what else. Who’s to say a virus won’t

break out loose in a lab and infect

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us all like in ‘Resident Evil’? Or an ape won’t develop enough

human behavior to become more than just our common ancestor?

No one really knows and that’s the scariest part. That’s why

people like Leonard Cohen wrote “the future” in which he states

“And now the wheels of heaven stop, you feel the devil's riding

crop, Get ready for the future: It is murder” (Cohen). If television,

media, and computers don’t murder us first, robotics and genetics

surely will be the end.

Since the dawn of technology, humans have been slowly

meeting their demise. The invention of the first light bulb was the

beginning of a global disaster because suddenly people knew

they could push their limits. The television sparked a new vision

for people and guided them away from reading and natural

development. Computer technology has been increasing since

the late 20th century and now it has forced us to use it instead of

our own minds. Now and in the future who’s to say that robotics

and genetic experiments won’t blow out of control like everything

else has. Personally I think they will. We as a human species are

getting into the worst war we’ve seen in centuries.

Works Cited

‘Baby robot that can walk, talk and feel.’ MailOnline: Science and

Tech. 7 June, 2007.

www.dailymail.co.uk/scienceetech/article-460015/Baby-

robot-walk-talk- f feel.html

Beavertrees. ‘What are the bad things that Thomas Edison has

done?’ Yahoo Answers: Arts and Humanity, History.

<www.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?quid=200

Bellis, Mary. ‘The Life of Thomas Edison.’ About.com: Inventors.

<www.inventors.about.com/od/estartinventors/a/Thomas-

Edison-4.html >

Carr, Nicholas. ‘Is Google Making Us Stupid?’ The Atlantic: What

the internet is doing to our brains. July/August 2008 issue.

<www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-

making-us-stupid/306868>

Cohen, Leonard. ‘Bad Future.’ TvTropes.

<www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BadFuture>

‘The Downside- the bad influence of TV.’ Bizymoms:

Entertainment home, TV.

<www.bizymoms.com/entertainment/negative-effects-

tv.html

‘How TV Affects Your Child.’ KidsHealth from Nemours: Parents,

School and Family Life.

<www.kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html

Jernigan, Katie. ‘Negative Effects of Computers on Children.’ 18

March, 2011. LiveStrong.com: The Limitless Potential of you.

<www.livestrong.com/article/85306-negative-effects-

computers-children/>

Mitchell, Terry. ‘How TV has Ruined Our Lives.’ CommenTerry.

30 September, 2012.

<www.commenterry.blogs.com/commentary/2012/09/how-

tv-has-ruined-our-lives.html>

‘When was the first computer invented?’ ComputerHope.

<www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000984.html