Both Jaron Lanier book You are not a Gadget and Schmidt and
Cohen’s The New Digital Age have interesting takes on what will come of this digital
world we are creating. Lanier mostly warns about the dangers of this Digital
age while Schmidt and Cohen give us some of the positives that can come from
it. I find myself set somewhere in the middle. I love electronics, the
possibilities that can come from them, but also understand that we can’t let
the digital side of the world overcome the natural side. When we start to
become more immersed in the internet and other forms of digital immersion over
natural immersion and communication is when we will have went too far. Schmidt
and Cohen talk about fully immersive virtual reality and other things of that
nature and that is sort of scary to think about because at that point, that is
when we are starting to rely on technology to keep us alive.
I agree with you. Technology is a beautiful thing, but sometimes it is used as a crutch especially if you compare it to how we use it now to how our elders did without it in their time. It has advanced the economy, but slightly decreased the need for brain power as well. So, it's all in how we use it.
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