Technology's Edge

If you ask the everyday citizen, more than likely they would tell you that the advancement of technology Is one of man's greatest achievements. The ability to speak to someone on the opposite side of the planet with a push of a button, The power to see inside a person's body to identify disease or injury, so on and so forth. Technology has saved many lives, of that their can be no doubt. Then again, has mankind become too dependent on the code's that reside within the website's and machines we use on a daily basis? Take for example the cell phone. If a person can afford it, they more than likely will always have one on them. Powerful miniature computers that can fit within the palm of our hands. It can hold within it's lifeless core information about your entire life. Phone numbers of your relatives, Banking information, important addresses. Such information is so easily stored within a compact, highly advanced combination of energy and metal. That very same information can be taken, distributed, and used against us at any given moment. Such is the danger of the internet, of technology. One minute you've logged into your bank account to determine if you have enough money for lunch tomorrow, and in the very next second someone across the world could be hacking your phone to pull your routing and checking account number. Such incidents happen more often than most people think, but the convenience of having a phone in this day and age outweighs those risk, does it not? After all, It would be unfortunate if we could not check for the weather via the weather app, or If we could not call our bosses at work to let them know we may be running slightly late.

Rather than thinking of your bank account being hacked, think instead of just how much time you spend looking at your phone's screen. Perhaps you enjoy watching funny cat videos or the random flower montage. With a simple flick of your finger, you can find yourself lost within the lives and moments of other people flashing before your eyes behind that incredibly thin layer of glass for hours. With a simple tap of the screen, you can show your disdain or appreciation of the efforts of someone else you have no personal connection to whatsoever. You may not realize it, but that like or dislike could alter that persons mental and financial stability. Do you ever stop to wonder just what affect that comment you left may have on the creator of that how to clean gutters tutorial you didn't really find helpful? Many people spend hours and hours simply editing videos for all of the world to see and judge. Popularity of a persons life can be measured by a numeric value by quirky usernames that fluctuate every second of everyday. Many platforms that reside on the internet encourage constant uploads, to continuously crank out content. It would not be a stretch of the imagination to say that cell phones can be viewed as a reflection of a persons life. Aside from any personal belief we may have about technology, It is a fact that it has given us a great deal of power with minimal mental or physical effort. Always think carefully about exactly everything you do and can do with the portable gateway to the world in the palm of your hand, or that crane designed to lift thousands of pounds with the pull of a switch. Technology, depending on it's use, can be a blessing or a curse.