Thanks to the prevalence of technology, our lives are
constantly changing. We are more connected than ever before, but as we sit in
front of our individual screens, we’re also more isolated. Read more about
issues surrounding technology, including concerns about privacy and information
overload, and then tell us what you think.
Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages? Are we better,
worse or just different? Submit your comments >
UPDATE: You can read one student's take on this issue in The Brown and White.
View comments >
Peter G. Tocci
-- Alumni
Way too plugged in. However, not to change the subject too much, but the sum of the negative impacts defined in the poll can't hold a candle to the negative energetic health effects of the corresponding electromagnetic pollution, the worst of this being pulsed microwave, an energy totally alien in the Universe and already manifesting in severe health consequences (even though the industry is in denial)...
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Anonymous
-- Donor
I think the benefits definitely outweigh the disadvantages. The Internet allows access to information that is unprecedented and actually creates a challenge for educators to remain relevant since most information is now just a couple of clicks away. But I think that this also revises the set of expectations...
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Paul Richard Brown
-- Dean, College of Business of Economics
Who doesn’t enjoy the advances we made with technology that permeate essentially all aspects of our lives. 21st century connectivity - efficient, easy and fast, and tremendous bandwidth - truly has changed the way I think about education and program delivery. What concerns me, however, is whether this advantage has had unintended consequences on the social connective dimension of our lives, and particularly the lives of our undergraduate students...
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J Shaffer
-- Graduate Student
Simply different. The decisions of better, worse, advantages and disadvantages, will play out until the end of time. It is important for each individual user to remember that everyday actions and interactions (physical and electronic) shape the people they become...
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Jack Lule
-- Faculty Member
It is important to remember that technology is merely a tool. In the right hands, this tool can be used for enormous good. In the wrong hands, the tool can be incredibly destructive...
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Jeremy Littau
-- Faculty Member
I would disagree with the premise that being in front of screens makes us more isolated, because that is a matter of perspective. Some of my work in social media, for example, has found that those who are disabled report being more connected to people with greater use because they were previously unable to make the connections normally made by people who are more mobile or don't have to fear judgment from being seen in public...
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Cheryl A. Ashcroft
-- Staff
We are moving in a dramatically different direction which has both positive and negative consequences for interpersonal relationships. We need to be mindful that sometimes we just need to quiet the mind and get back to nature...
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Thomas Hammond
-- Faculty Member
Taken one at a time, present-day individual benefits and disadvantages can present strongly: I can communicate with people all around the world--hooray! Look at the toll from distracted driving as people talk or text--boo! These are competing strong, qualitatively different data points...
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Anonymous
-- Staff
I'd have to go with just different. I see the biggest challenge as being the way in which we're not conscious of the way in which technology changes our lives...
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Mike Sweeney
-- Staff
I'd say we are just different. Being more connected, we are more efficient at our jobs, stay in touch with long distance friends and are more aware of the issues we face as a community, nation and beings. I think we need to make conscious efforts to be more than virtual friends and take time to turn off the tech and enjoy the more simple things in life...
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