It is absolutely hysterical the attributes that people apply to new technologies. Some of them are true and others simply do not make any sense. Plato was right to say that writing ruined our memory, but that is because we no longer have to rely solely on our memory. People also thought that telephones could be used as some sort of torture device by shocking people and that did not happen.
However, I have my own worries regarding the relatively new technology known as social media. It allows us to communicate with each other, find old friends, and discover new ideas. Yet, there are clearly some downfalls as shown by the last Presidential election. What truly concerns me is that human beings do not always communicate in the most intelligent and tactful way, as seen via Trump’s twitter account. Yet, our weapons have also grown in sophistication and efficiency. Of course, the efficiency of weapons is based on more people being killed with less resources being used.
We fear our weapons and rightfully so. Will our advancement in technology, while human beings remain the same short-sighted idiots that we have been for centuries, eventually lead to unprecedented chaos? I’m not even talking about nuclear war, even though two world leaders are competing about the size of their launch buttons, but the mass panic that stems from these communications.
Hawaii had a false incoming missiles alarm, which caused mass panic. People have attributed a rise in hate crimes to comments made by the current POTUS, which are more easily documented and shared via social media. Propaganda, fake news stories, rumors, and the like run rampant. One person accidentally shot themselves when attending a counter protest for a non-existent Anti-Fa rally.
Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love how I can view cute cat videos, funny memes, and cool life hacks. However, I’m scared that maybe the consequences are more than we can currently handle.
