Dehumanization

As my final blog for the semester, I wanted to do a reflection on the topics covered throughout this course. Numerous subjects were discussed such as autonomous vehicles, the dark web, and various other topics. The discussions were all very interesting for there were many different opinions, offering alternative ways to view or think about a situation. Throughout the course of the semester these discussions made me really think, and have concluded that all of these advancements have somewhat led to the dehumanization of society.

            I decided to take this class this semester because I had a few friends who had taken it and they spoke very highly of it. On the first day of class we introduced ourselves and said our majors, and most of the class was computer science majors, whereas only a few of us were engineers. After the few first classes I felt has if I did not relate to my colleagues, for many times I did not know about the newest shows or technologies that were being discussed. I of course use technology and social media, but overall I am not very into it and up to date, for I have always been someone who likes to be outdoors and interacting with others. With many of the discussions we had I felt out of the loop and sometimes strongly disagreed with the opinions of my classmates.  

            Although I too believe that modern technologies have greatly helped society today, I also feel it has its drawbacks. After having discussions such as the ones about autonomous cars or the show that had the husband who was able to “rent” a new wife, which was a robot, while his was away, that did everything he needed her to do except she did not have emotions. In both of these situations the human aspect is gone. There is something freeing about being able to just get in the car and drive with music blasting, when having a bad day. And although in the case of this TV show it is much simpler to just have a robot wife, that can fill all of the roles, the interaction between partners is lost. Of course relationships are hard, and sometimes there can be fights and bumps along the way, but then we will miss out on sharing experiences with our partner, and more importantly miss out on falling in love. And even though it is tough, we will even miss out on experiencing heartbreak.

            With all of these advancements in technology, the art of communication is slowly dying. You look around and everyone is too busy texting or looking at Instagram, instead of interacting with those around them. Nowadays when sitting at a restaurant, there is less and less communication and more of people just looking at their phones. As humans we are supposed to interact, we are social beings. We should be able to laugh, cry, collaborate with each other, and we cannot do this through our phones or computers. I hope that society and especially our generation will see the effects modern technology is having on us. Because although sometimes it may seem easier to escape through our phones or computers, we are truly missing out on what is going on around us and the company of others.