Technology

As I have said before, I don't enjoy reading books. I adore certain types of stories, but not novels themselves. I don't know, books just never click for me. They did a couple of times way in the past, but never after that. A few weeks ago, the whole class took out a book from the library to read for our own pleasure, and possibly gain some benefits from it. My book is called Awaken, by Katie Kacvinsky. It's a pretty good book so far. Not amazing, but alright. There are some things I'd like to talk about though. The main question: is our world deteriorating socially by technology? My answer is a flat yes, unfortunately.

             

The setting of Awaken is terrifying - and I don't mean with monsters and darkness. It's a world set in the year 2064, where technology rules and basically defines the lives of everyone. Every single thing is automated, whether by motion or voice control. There's a screen of any shape and size at every corner you look. People rarely look at each other's faces, let alone actually speak to them. There's no such thing as writing with a pencil, or reading on paper. It's all screens and holograms. There aren't even cars! They have these vehicles called ZipShuttles, which is like a small train that goes around the city like a bus.

As much as I hate to admit it, I feel like our world is plunging towards that. It gives me chills just typing that, because that's no way to live. I mean, think about it. The flip phone, which I think is really cool, only came out in probably the early 2000s, right? I'm not 100% sure if that is true, but I remember everyone had one in the mid-2000s. Then phones with sliding keyboards came along, and they were so cool! Eventually, the touch-screen as we all know it soon made its way. I got my first phone in 2010, and it had a touch screen with a sliding keyboard. Back then, it was a really big deal. But then, I don't know how, suddenly around late 2012 to 2013, everything started changing. iPhones started spreading to every person's back pocket. The battle between Apple and Samsung became way more noticeable than ever. Soon, everyone started buying tablets. The use for a laptop or desktop was going down, so then the laptop started becoming a tablet itself! Now you can flip them around! I actually got one recently, and I love it, but the fact that this all came to existence so fast is really something. This sudden surge from 2013 - 2017 was just voice/motion/touch activated technology everywhere you go. There are smartphones, smart TVs, smart cars, smart refrigerators... the list goes on and on. Every device has to have a camera or touch-ability. No one uses actual alarm clocks anymore. Few people even watch TV itself, because it's all online. I'm one of the few that still do. No one even talks to each other! On the last day of school last year, I wanted to spend the last class with my friends by talking, but literally all of them had their eyes on their phones. Very few words were spoken.

I love technology. I can't live without it. But, I feel like the world is moving way too fast. Back then, having a phone (or some modern technology) was like a phenomenon. Nowadays, not having one is a phenomenon. People are becoming less social and more lazy. They're losing sight of what's going on around them. I appreciate the flocks of birds in the sky, the windy blizzards, the raindrops on my face. No one feels this way anymore, and it seems to be getting worse as the years go by. People would rather take a picture, and post it with some laughing emojis or something.

                    

I want to say more, but I think I've harped on this enough. Anyway... in Awaken, the main character, Madeline, is one those "digital" people. Her mother is from my own generation, and she still appreciates the simpler, less-technological way of life. She's trying to convince Madeline to appreciate it as well, but Madeline feels more comfortable with a digital life. She never has to talk to anyone in person. No one can ever know who she is, so she can say whatever she wants online without consequences. If she wrote something she regrets, she can just edit or delete it, unlike in real life. As the chapters go by, she sees herself slowly starting to like a non-digital life. It makes her feel more alive.

I personally hope that our world never ends up like the one Madeline lives in. I get sick just reading some of the descriptions Madeline says of her world, but then again, mine is kind of similar. I hope that she awakens from her "digital sleep" soon enough.