Blog #8: Technology-The Core of Humanity's Destruction

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun”(Krakauer)

In the short span of three sentences, the author of Into the Wild has managed to summarize what is wrong with the world: a lack of excitement, of surprise, of joy. In today's modern world, technology is king. Want to talk to someone continents away in real time, or across the world in a few hours, or even buy your monthly groceries? There's a machine for that. But with each technological advancement, a little more of the mystique of the world is being removed. Remember in the good ol' days, when children could go biking from their house into wilderness, as long as they were back before supper? Now, that wilderness has been tamed by technology and has been replaced by uniform houses and factories. With their former source of entertainment being systematically destroyed, children must search for a substitute. They delve into video games and social media, and entrench themselves so far within its grasp, they can never surface again. We have allowed technology to go beyond assisting our lives. We've allowed it to take over our lives. People wonder why so many college students are suffering from depression and anxiety, why increasing insanity rates have led to so many shootings, why the suicide rates are rising, why over 22% of teenagers self-harm. But with technology severely damaging our adventurous nature with a false sense of security, I'm really not surprised.