Running head: THE GENERATION DROWNING IN PROGRESSION 1

The Generation Drowning In Progression: A Literature Review of Technology

Brittney Morgan

NUAMES
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The Generation Drowning In Progression: A Literature Review of Technology

Introduction

When looking at Technology, many people have different perspectives on what affects it

has on the current generation and past ones as well. In ​I Am Legend,​ you see how the potential of

progressive Technology can affect an entire population. Dr. Robert Neville, the sole survivor of

the zombie apocalypse, learns and develops how to mentally survive as well as physically. When

this happens, you see his emotional and mental state change with the lack of Technology that has

now disappeared. However, with the Technology he does have, he eventually finds a cure for the

survival of humanity. This shows how much of an impact that Technology is happening in the

world and how fast advances are changing. One second you are living a practical life and then

another; it can all be gone because of the progression into Technology.

So why is Technology important? Why is it so important to pay attention to what is

happening in this massive technological advancement of a generation. Writer's such as Nicholas

Carr, Brooke Gladstone, and Kevin Kelly all show their opinions on what these progressions

could be doing for generations now and what is to come. They use their research and data to

back up their thoughts and sometimes concerns about what the future of Technology has to offer.

Their works can help create an opinion on what Technology has become and will eventually be:

good or bad. Technology is here to stay, and no matter the opinions, cases, and research behind

both sides, there is no stopping the inevitable progression of technology intellectual, emotionally,

and socially.
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How does Technology affect Intelligence?

Technology and its progression have grown to the point of the fact that we have to ask

this question. Since this, scholars such as Nicholas Carr (2008), Kevin Kelly (2012), and Brooke

Gladstone (2011) try to explain with facts and evidence of both sides of this argument. Nicholas

Carr, in his article "Is Google Making Us Stupid." challenges the way that we are using the

internet and using our brain functions. The point that Carr is making is that Technology is

affecting the progression of human capacity, concentration, and contemplation. Carr dives in

with his anecdote, saying that things like reading books that used to interest him do not have that

same effect anymore. He feels he has a hard time staying focused on comprehending a text

without wanting to go on to the next thing.

"Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on

a Jet Ski" (Carr, pg.3, 2008)

Carr then goes into how he is not the only one affected by this or has noticed. He asked

friends and colleagues the same question and got a very similar response from them. He takes a

turn from the anecdotes and tries to focus on studies that might help prove his thesis. He brings

up the University College London Study, a five-year research program that studied the computer

logs of visitors. The study suggests that students tend to "bounce" (Carr, pg. 3, 2008) from

website to website skimming over there reading and not fully comprehending it. He goes onto

explain that since we as humans have been so used to this type of understanding and complexity,

we are no longer working as humans but like the computers themselves. We are now relying on

the smarts of the computer rather than ourselves. This is proving Carr's (2008) thesis about
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losing our comprehension of the fact that we do not comprehend what we are reading and

learning anymore. Demonstrating this with many articles and examples, this is the point, and

reason Carr (2008) wrote the article.

Kevin Kelly, in his article, "Better Than Human: Why Robots Will — And Must — Take

Our Job," explains the futuristic ways that robots and other advanced technology will take over

our society. Some argue that this take over of robots and advanced technology is a possible

dystopia. Kelly, however, explains why this claim should be put to rest. He explains early on in

the article about the fast accruing ways that Technology has affected our lives, even starting in

the early 18th century and the Industrial Revolution. He goes onto to describe the future

predictions he feels will happen in the next few years. He also gives many examples of what

Technology and robots we have now that will affect us and show progression in the future.

In Brooke Gladstone (2011) "The Influencing Machine," people should not fear the

effects of Technology because when looking in the past technological progression, it has shown

us that many of our fears should be put to rest. Gladstone puts in perspective what we all fear for

the future of Technology. The good, the bad, and everything in between. She talks a lot about the

common fears that people have been saying for years and tries to explain using past events that

have happened. She starts by explaining the term echo chambers, and how we tend to gravitate

towards people that think as we do. She uses Nicholas Carr (2008) as an example of the effect

that the internet is having on people referencing his essay, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?".

Although Carr expresses his concerns for what the future holds with Technology, she explains

that while yes, the internet is affecting our brains, but it is only making us think differently rather
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than dumbing us down. She talks about how the invention of the television and the stigma behind

it, but she backs up her claim with the design of the radio, which had the same kind of backlash

for giving children nightmares, but also made children more creative for having to use their

imagination. She ends the chapter by using Douglas Adams, who ended up predicting the now

smartphones and advising people not to panic.

In "Umm… Panic?" Gladstone identifies the worrying reasons people are scared of the

progression of Technology. She uses the choice study done in 1999, which tried to prove that

when people are given too many choices, they fail to make a choice; this is called choice

overload. It was shown that there was no empirical evidence for choice overload and that this

worry can be put to rest. She concludes with the fact that Technology is not taking away from

our learning and understanding, and in a way, it is making us more intelligent than we thought

we were.

All three authors use their own research and details that they found to prove their point.

They all have a point they are trying to make to their audience and show that there is something

to listen to. In matters of Intelligence, they all have their points of view, and what could happen

with the advances in technology. There is not 100% proof that any one of them is right. Both

sides of the argument are strong and give massive data, so ultimately, it comes down to what we

will see in future progression.

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Does Technology affect us Emotionally?

As Technology progresses extremely fast in this age, the question occurs of is

Technology affecting us emotionally? Scholars such as Twenge (2017), Tiwary (2018), and

Samuel (2019), all have an opinion and what seems to be an answer to this question. In Jean

Twenge's “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, She goes into detail about the young

lives of today and the effect that modern technology has done. She starts by introducing Athena,

an anecdote with dialogue. She does this to show how technology is affecting a modern teen and

argues that we, as a generation, are delaying to grow up. She goes on to ask Athena questions

about her life. Twenge goes onto to relate the kind of experiences she had when she was that age

and could see the significant differences between the two because of the fast progression from

technology. She goes on to acknowledge her study of many people in the last 25 years, studying

the generational differences that they have. Out of all the generations, she has considered our

current one is different from most. Emotional behaviors had changed drastically since 1995 when

this generation started. Social media is a big part of this has shaped this age of iGen: a new name

for children born from 1995 to 2012.

Twenge goes on to dive deep into how these changes in technology have affected modern

iGen. She gives examples such as the lack of people getting their license, moving out, and the

significant events that come with adult independence. She also discusses the considerable rise in

depression and suicide rates. The charts she provides a substantial increase from the start of

when the first generation iPhone was released. This rise in technology is affecting the way that

young adults are living, and with the charts, and it is happening drastically. She concludes with
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the fact that technology is not bad in a way; it is just blocking experiences in our adolescents.

Although she has her concerns, she sees hope in the future for our generation to overcome these

adversities of technology.

In Tracy A. Dennis-Tiwary's (2018) Taking Away the Phones Will not Solve Our

Teenagers' Problems, she goes into depth about how the enormous incline of teen depression and

anxiety is due for less addicting technology. She begins with the fact that the researchers are

aware that this is an issue. That there is a big call for this and why Apple has made a system that

can track the time that we use on our screens. Although we seem to be on track, it seems s that

the developers are just pushing this aside to make the money the products should be making. She

mentions how the studies that have been coming out are not following the more significant issues

and not using the data the way that they should. Tiwary also mentions the development of

self-reliance and grit; the study's purposes were to establish a measure of helicopter parenting.

This study showed that helicopter parenting caused an increase in anxiety and depression,

proving her point that taking the phones away will not solve the problem.

In Sigal Samuel, "These apps make a game out of relieving anxiety. They may be onto

something." she goes on to analyze the different apps that are being created towards anxiety;

these apps are trying to solve the anxiety epidemic that we have seen in 2019. Explaining this,

Samuel goes onto acknowledge that these are not a cure but rather a tool in what could help a

generation suffering from this.

Although significant advances are happening in technology, we must look at the other

significant factors that Technology is having on our society. It matters emotionally; both sides
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have a solid argument. It is proven that yes, it is taking a toll on us emotionally, but there is more

than one reason for these increases in anxiety and depression. Technology is not the only factor

that is affecting us emotionally when looking at the increases in modern parenting and other

sources you see that these two have been affecting the young generation as well as Technology.

Is Technology affecting our Interpersonal Relationships?

The progression in technology allows asking the question, is technology affecting our

relationships? Sherry Turkle (2012), Jean Twenge, and Jenna Wortham (2014) all use their

research and studies to answer this question. In Sherry Turkles's TedTalk "Connected But

Alone?" She begins by telling the audience that she had just received the right luck text message

from her daughter before going on stage. She expressed that the text made it feel like her

daughter was there, hugging her. She then begins to explain that back in 1996 in her previous

TedTalk that she was giving her speech about how incredible the fast-growing progression of

Technology was, and the benefits that came with it. That TedTalk also got her on the cover of

WIRED Magazine. Stating her past achievements, Turkle begins to confess that this TedTalk

would probably not have that same effect. Because of the impact of Technology, she shows that

we are connected virtually but not that we should be physical.

Turkle's study on "technologies of mobile communication" (2:18), interviewing hundreds

of people of all ages, gave her a look at how it is affecting us today. These tiny ways of

communicating with each other are keeping us connected, but we are at the same time, losing

touch with each other emotionally. Turkle also explains that texting is making real-life

conversations shorter, and how a majority of people now would rather text than make an actual
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phone call. This will be a downfall in relationships and begin to deteriorate relations drastically.

Being connected has its benefits, but Turkle explains that future generations will start to feel

more lonely while being alone. They will not be taught how to live by themselves. She concludes

that it is time to talk again. That the way we are heading with the progression of Technology will

not only hurt us psychologically but as a society in general. She explains that she has hope for

the future and sees that we will all live the life we want to live.

In Jean Twenge's "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" she also talks about not

only emotionally reckoning Technology is but also with interpersonal relationships. She goes

into to talk once more about Athena, and how she and Athena's upbringing have many

differences. She talks about how most kids are more likely to spend time at home, then with their

friends. She also includes that today's young adults are not getting drivers licenses, and having

experiences that past generations were having at that same age. This to Twenge is because of the

advancement in addictive Technology. She concludes with the same that there is hope for the

future, and Technology has a place in our future.

Jenna Wortham has a different approach to the question and gives a much different

answer. She explains that Technology is helping to create more relationships with the ability to

connect with more people. She begins with a story about her and her boyfriend having an

excellent date and all the activities that they did. She concludes that this all happened over a

smartphone and that they are trying to help an app company develop and test their new product.

Wortham explains that because of these new advancements in technology, she and her boyfriend

can have a more comfortable long-distance relationship.

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Conclusion

To conclude, all authors use their work to give us a very different perspective on what

technology is progressing into this upcoming age. When looking at the technological

progressions that are swift pacing in the way that we are viewing, it may be hard to comprehend.

That is why authors such as Gladstone, Kelly, Carr, Twenge, Tiwary, Samuel, and Wortham

gives us evidence and facts to help us understand the future fate of our technological generations.

Although they do have predictions, they are only predictions. There is no 100% guarantee that

these things will happen and that either both sides of the argument are correct.

Just like in ​I Am Legend,​ Dr. Robert Neville used technology to create a cure for the

technology that killed the human race. In the end technology could have destroyed everything,

but he also uses its advances to bring people back. Technology is a tool. It can either bring us

together, or it can ruin an entire human race. Thinking of this, we must, as a generation, be

prepared and aware of this tool that is being handed to us. Technology and its fast advancements

are a critical learning experience, and yet we are still learning every day. We should also be

aware that there is only one assurance for this: humans.

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References

Gladstone, B. (2011). The influencing machine: Brooke Gladstone on the media. WW Norton &

Company.

Kelly, K. (2012). Better than human: Why robots will—and must—take our jobs. Wired.

http://www. wired. com/2012/12/ff-robots-will-take-our-jobs/(Accessed 4 August 2014.).

Carr, N. (2008). Is Google making us stupid?. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of

Education, 107(2), 89-94.

Turkle, S. (2012). Connected, but alone. TED talks.

Twenge, J. M. (2017). Have smartphones destroyed a generation. The Atlantic, 3.

Dennis-tiwary, T. A. (2018). Taking Away the Phones Won't Solve Our Teenagers' Problems.

Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/opinion/sunday/smartphone-addiction-teenagers-st

ress.html.

Samuel, S. (2019, September 25). These apps make a game out of relieving anxiety. They may

be onto something. Retrieved from

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/9/17/20863016/anxiety-app-phone-gamificati.

Wortham, J. (2014, April 5). I Had a Nice Time With You Tonight. On the App.

Retrieved from

https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/05/i-had-a-nice-time-with-you-tonight-on-the-app

/.