Technology is an evil, evil entity. It has corrupted nearly every facet of society with its overly complicated, endlessly updated, contrivedly necessary influence. Experts and laymen alike have long praised technology for helping advance mankind from our primitive past into a more integrated, efficient present and future.
I heartily disagree.
Yes, technology has helped mankind grow to its current state, but is this a good state in which we find ourselves? We use technology as a crutch - it does all the jobs that we have forgotten how to do, or not even allowed ourselves to learn.
There is no escaping technology.
Even as I sit here writing this article damning technological advances, I'm typing it into one computer while my own laptop plays a funky track from the massive MP3 collection of which I am so proud ("Gallery Piece" by Of Montreal, check it out on the Interne- ... wait).
You see? That's what I'm talking about. Not thirty minutes from when I started typing this, my editor and I had a conversation about how evil the Internet is. It was brought about after we read an online article about a California girl who auctioned off her virginity online for $275,000.
Disgusting!
There you go. Not half an hour after that angry conversation, I'm talking about the Internet in my own damning article. We can't escape it.
Our computers, our appliances, our players, our vehicles, our hardware, our software, our buildings, our communicators, even our food, drink and clothing has all been consumed by the ever-corrupting touch of technology.
Resistance is futile.
Escape is impossible.
Hope?
Perhaps.
Around the turn of the 19th century, a workers revolt occurred in Industrial Revolution-era England called the Luddite movement. The Luddites were all former professional, skilled textile workers who were extremely apprehensive about the introduction of the new wide-framed mechanical looms that could be operated by a single, unskilled worker.
They orchestrated the violent destruction of several mechanical textile mills and opposed technological advances of any kind.
Do I sound nostalgic for a time that I didn't actually live through? Maybe. Am I condoning violence towards the technological hellholes that our cities have become? Not entirely.
The Luddites of old realized that advances in technology, especially in their field, would lead to a cheapening of their unique, refined skills. The fabrics produced by the mechanical looms were nowhere near the quality of what they could make by hand, but since it was easier to manufacture large quantities in a hurry and didn't require expensive labor, the burgeoning capitalists of the day predictably jumped on board.
Technology continues to do this today. Capitalism has exploited technology to its fullest - reducing jobs, cheapening skills and exploiting the labor of the desperate. Most products made by purely technological means aren't nearly up to par with their handmade counterparts.
Technology cheapens life in more ways than this.
I'll admit, I like my iPod. I like being constantly inundated with the music I adore, but do I really need it? I can hear any band at any time on the Internet and I can steal that music and take it anywhere in the world.
This isn't how it used to be. You used to have to travel to find music. You used to have to inquire and interact with the artists in order to get a taste of the music.
It's the same in film.
It's the same in recreation.
It's the same in literature.
Technology has cheapened every part of our lives and culture by making everything accessible to everyone. There's no adventure anymore.
Of course, technology has made us safer, but in my opinion we have become downright sheltered by it. Technology forces us under its wing and won't let us fly on our own.
I know I'm talking about technology like it's a sentient being of which we have lost control, and this is only half false. Technology is evolving at a rapid rate. We need to slow it down and learn to control it now before it goes too far.
I propose the founding of a new movement. The Neo-Luddite movement. No, I don't want violence, I don't want a revolution per say, I just want us to wake up and realize what we have done to ourselves by letting technology take over so much of our lives. It's time to take back humanity from the machines. It's time to live like human beings again, not fleshy bodies with silicone-controlled minds.
Join me as I strive to minimize the role of technology in my life. Use it only when necessary. Use it only when it can genuinely better your life, not take over a part of it. I think it's still possible to repent, and I hope you will all try to find out with me.
Casey Welsch is a hypocritical nay-saying pessimist who is addicted to contradiction and getting the last word. Reach him at caseywelsch@dailynebraskan.com.
Be the first to comment on this article!