Technology vs. Modern Day Relationships

                      How technology has begun to impact relationships both positively, & negatively

                                          

If you've ever been in a relationship, odds are that you and your significant other have had a decent amount of disagreements between one another. How many of those disagreements can be accounted for lack of attention? One of the more persisting issues in today's day and age is the lack of a physical presence within a relationship, mainly due in part to how usual technology has become. We depend so much on technology that it can sometimes obtain a much more prominent role in one's live as opposed to their significant other. Through texting and instant messaging, we identify the convenience of being able to convey messages with positive and negative feedback without revealing ourselves or showcasing vulnerability. It almost offers a sense of security from dealing with or projecting emotions; dissipating the physical aspect through emotional disconnection. Little by little, this has become more prominent within our society. What makes it so dangerous is the fact that it has become the preferred alternative to dealing with issues, or even communicating in general. Technology itself shows no indication of any future decline in advancement. Time itself indicates that technology will only serve to worsen the matter, rather than assist; which was the general idea behind the thought of progressive advancement.    

Technology's Impact on Communication in Relationships

Today in class, we covered the role of technology in relationships. Frequently, texting can cause miscommunication due to a lack of mutual understanding of the tone of these virtual messages. Many things can be misinterpreted when leading a relationship through text. It is interesting to think that current adults may struggle with interpretation with digital relationships, while the internet has also done a lot to improve the quality of relationships (when used properly). The classic Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet emphasizes the gravity of miscommunication in a relationship and how relationships can go very awry when lacking proper communication. Lack of instant communication, at one point, made it more inconvenient to meet up with significant others and stay in constant contact.

However, there are even larger (internal) issues that are created with the use of constant Internet usage/texting/social media in a relationship. A relationship can be manipulated to just be perfect for the public, social media purposes. The individuals can become more overprotective and concerned because instant technology allows for more freedom and more temptations. It is important to stay honest with one another, communicate properly and act responsibly. There will be problems without technology and with technology. As our society is shaping into a technology-dependent time period, it is important to prioritize the meaningful relationships in life (in person, and not completely virtually). 

Slowly Fading Away?

*Week 5
Take a moment and think, what is a relationship? There can be a different explanation of dating in everybody's head. Today, dating and relationships are looked at in a different way because of technology. When people are sucked into technology the idea of connecting with someone is lost and human to human connect is not present. There are people who date for long periods of time without even meeting each other. But the real question is, is that real love? Can you have a higher level connection with someone if you never felt there skin or smelt their natural sent? This is not something for me to decide for others relationships solely because everyone has their own opinion on what a relationship is. But I can take a stance and say that higher connections with people come with touch, even if its as simple as the touch of a hand. This is a well known idea of love, it is the little things that make us human by developing feelings. But this idea was always present in love, but might have been forgotten about throughout time. Technology has decreased the idea of a relationship because who knows what can be said behind a screen. It is so easy to say anything if you are not face to face with that person. Although, it is kept alive with pop culture, for example famous artist like Ed Sheeran or One Direction. There are famous songs like 'Thinking Out Loud" or "Little Things" that keep true love in today's society. Below are the lyrics and what today's society thinks of them. It is very interesting that these people broke down the lyrics and put their own spin on things. This is keeping love in our generation. This all ties into defining a relationship and others keeping it alive in this day in age.


*Link 
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/e/ed_sheeran/thinking_out_loud_lyrics.html 

Technology in show "Black Mirror" and how it can be real for us

This article* touches upon the various highly advanced technology that were brought into the story to interest the modern crowd, the show "Black Mirror". Every episode talks about the negative impacts of technology if it is let out of hand. This article refers to the possibility of these technologies existing in the real life.
Although technology has improved the quality of our lives exponentially, it still holds the capability of destroying us if used improperly or without fear of consequence. Technology has the ability to do more than we even know as of right now. It is so important to use it with precaution and wariness. 

What if?

What if the Industrial Revolution had never taken place? What-if's are difficult to answer because most scenarios are unpredictable or had many purposeful events leading up to that moment. However, there is no doubt that the Industrial Revolution brought upon many benefits economically and horrible aftermath environmentally. The Industrial Revolution has been regarded to as the "the destruction of the home-based production and its replacement by large factories," which is factual and essentially what occurred. It was the start of environmental damage and 

Electronics and advanced technology would not exist, medicine would not reach far bounds, education would be lower, ability to fly/transport with planes would not exist. On the other hand, pollution would be significantly lower- global warming could have been drastically and significantly slowed down from the current pace that the climate is changing currently. In fact, climate change would be mostly theoretical. It is interesting to see how the Industrial Revolution was such a dramatic watershed in the world's history. 

However, there is no real way to ponder about possibilities and what-ifs. The creation of such technology and labor-relieving innovation was inevitable. It would have just been a matter of time. As it is, human beings are self-destructive in nature. The only thing that could have been different would be the human emotion and compassion that should have came along with the progression of technology and advancement. We are now living in a society that has environmental concern as a bottom priority which could have been avoided with the accompaniment of human emotion. 

Technology Then vs. Technology Now

This article by the Harvard Business Review explores the impacts of mobile technology on teens and their lives. The interesting part is that this article was written in April of 2012--that is now 15 years ago. It's interesting to read because we can compare the author's views to our views today. As he states, "[we] are the first unconscious participants in an era when everyone has access to everything, everywhere, at every time." In my opinion, not much has changed in the past 15 years; we are completely accustomed to having answers and information at our fingertips, since we have never known anything else. 


How Mobile Technologies Are Shaping a New Generation 

Women in the Industrial Revolution

This video is a brief overview of how women were impacted during the Industrial Revolution.

Industrial Revolution -----> Impact on Women and Children

*Week 4
The Industrial Revolution impacted not only the government but a specific groups, such as women and children. Everyone got hit pretty hard, but focusing on women and children there were many new opportunities and change that came along with it. For women, jobs expanded and began to work outside the home. This then led to political change and more protests for women's rights. Some of the jobs were domestic services or places like textile factories. This was followed by women being more independent. Which lead them to get outside their comfort zones and do things they never thought of doing. From all these women getting jobs, they had to leave the house and children were left to fend for themselves more often. This led to more child labor. This can be looked at as a positive or negative because children should not be over worked and should be going to school. All together, there were many effects from the Industrial Revolution.

Who are you?

*Week 3
I came across this video on Facebook and I really liked it. I think what she is saying is extremely important and relates to topics we discussed in class. This video is deep and I love how someone so famous could be so humble. I think everyone should watch this video.

https://www.facebook.com/goalcast/videos/1171661222911066/?autoplay_reason=all_page_organic_allowed&video_container_type=0&video_creator_product_type=2&app_id=2392950137&live_video_guests=0

A visual representation of how technology has taken the reins over humanity

* Any material used in this blog is strictly for educational purposes only. All copyright materials' within this blog belong to its' rightful owners.*

Empathy vs. Technology

Known for our technological advancements, who would have thought that we as human beings would become so dependent on the very devices we helped create? Mankind relies so heavily on technology, that we use and apply it towards even the most simplest of tasks. So much so that the argument can be made that we have become desensitized and deprived of basic duties and emotions; most prominently empathy. When was the last time you received any form of bad news, whether it be through text, email, imessage, etc.? Odds are the likelihood is that it occurred more than one would have liked. The greater possibility is that we are all guilty of pursuing the latter; being the bearer of bad news. Technology eliminates the means of face-to-face contact, making it seemingly easier to break such bad news, as not being an appropriate candidate for a job position, for instance. Its even used as means to attack others, with no regards of how it may impact their lives. People have become relatively comfortable utilizing such technology as means of avoiding human contact; and therefore diminishing one's ability to empathize, and possibly relate to those from different walks of life. Make no mistake, technology is not, and shouldn't be to blame for our shortcomings. It is up to us to put our phones down, close our laptops, and for once take responsibility for our fault of allowing technology to restrain us from some of our most basic, and primitive emotions that make us humans to begin with. 

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/530566/the-impact-of-the-internet-on-society-a-global-perspective/

A more in depth look on how technology has impacted us on a global standpoint.

Is Technology decreasing empathy?

 *Week 3
  Another rising controversy about technology, but that does not surprise me. This form of controversy is blaming technology for a more emotional disaster. That is not too far fetched. Personally I believe that technology is making us less empathetic. Behind these screens and over social media, youth is not actually caring one another. It is hard to put yourself in someone else's shoes when you do not know how they actually feel. Feelings in general are not being expressed the right way because of social media, being able to read  each other is becoming harder and harder.

     The young is losing the meaning of empathy because they are not connecting with their peers on a higher level then just texting. Teenagers are not even having normal conversations anymore. Texting and social media has its own language. These people are not engaging the right way, there is not contact or emotion to any of these words. It is easy to be a coward behind a screen and not care for one another, this is why technology is decreasing empathy. 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-me-care/  

*an descriptive article saying why technology is making us careless and lose empathy. 

RATIONALISM -> ROMATICISM -> CURRENT SOCIETY???

Today's class really started to make me think about how the society changes dramatically throughout different time periods in history. During the Scientific Revolution in the 1500-1800 time period, a revolution of ideas took place in which conceptual, methodological and institutional approaches to the natural world were formed as modern science. This revolution used rationality and science to explain the nature of the universe, shifting the mindset of the world from religious to scientific. Essentially, the world was pulled from a religiously driven period to an Age of Rationalism. This allowed people to properly give a reason for the ways of nature and have intellectual conversation about the world. However, this resulted in a very mechanical way of thinking. To a certain extent, this led the people into the Romantic Movement (1800-1870). Romanticism placed great emphasis on "individualism" and focused on emotions and feelings. This resulted in a spur of the arts, emotion, nature, spirituality, imagination, cultural traditions and values of the past. After this movement, we can see how current society is very scientific and technology-driven. People completely trust science and technology in 2017. This interests me because it sounds as if society went from:

EMOTIONAL --> SCIENTIFIC --> EMOTIONAL --> SCIENTIFIC (TECHNOLOGY & CURRENT SOCIETY)

Now, we can wait and see what happens after this current era.....any guesses? Do you think that we will enter another Enlightenment of culture and emotion or progress deeper in the scientific & technology-driven culture?

Nation of Protest

     If you were to Google "protest," you would see that almost every search result on the first page is in relation to Trump and his administration. Whether it's a protest on his travel ban, Breitbart news writer Milo Yiannopoulos' scheduled Berkeley appearance, London citizens refusing relations with US because of Trump's presidency, or even protesters planning to execute a mass "moon"ing of  the Chicago Trump Tower, people are angry, and they're protesting. The fact that so many people are protesting isn't the problem, however. The problem is that lawmakers are trying to pass laws that prohibit legal, law-abiding citizens, from protesting. The right to a peaceful protest is outlined in the First Amendment, but apparently that means nothing to some as they take to power under Trump's administration. As described in the article you can view here, Republican Keith Kempenich first proposed a bill in response to street protests concerning the Dakota Access Pipeline that would make it legal for drivers to run over protesters in North Dakota, but only if they did it "accidentally." It's unknown to me how you could accidentally run over a large crowd of people, but apparently it's possible, according to Republican lawmakers.
      Our country was founded on protest; we are the nation we are because of the day that colonists dumped 46 tons of tea into the Boston Harbor. That was the beginning, and since then protest has been the best way for us to ensure representation. It is one of our greatest freedoms as American citizens, and for our freedoms to be threatened is as scary as it gets.