The Unintended Cons Of Technology Doc

You can really decide whichever you would like based off the screenshot I sent in the attached files. It explains the assignment as long with everything required in it. It is in MLA Format double spaced.

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THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF TECHNOLOGY
Technology is a broad term used to describe skills, techniques, methods, or processes utilized in
the production of goods, services, or accomplishment of goals. In the current era, technology is
everything, deep-rooted in our daily activities, and we cannot do without it as it makes our duties
easier. The today space is crammed with technology with nearly every household owning digital
gadget (Solomon & Jean-Jacques 130). The unintended consequences of technology as it sounds
means, as we embrace the benefits of technological advancement in our daily activities at
business or home, society is exposed to catastrophic risks. However, the inventors at the
inception phase could not expect nor foresee.
Cases in point, papers replaced scrolls and manuscripts changing the way we store and distribute
information, but lead to deforestation. Development of industries improves the living standards
of the people but contributes to a significant amount of pollution. The message here is; nothing is
free from a setback, not even the medicine. Technology not being an exception, the benefits
derived are too many to mention, yet a vast array of unintended consequences are inherent.
Therefore, the negative consequences of technology should not hit as a surprise. Rarely do the
technology inventors at the inception time be in a position to judge how the system will be
utilized, nor can they tell the associated good or harm (Tenner).
A couple of technology effects are complex to assess, especially those not directly caused by the
new technology, but rather caused by a sudden change in human behaviour due to the new
system. Cars not only did they replace horses and carriages but also provide movement freedom
as a consequence, commuting was conceived. In summary, the indirect effects of innovation or

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advancement in nearly all sectors are hardly foreseen (Tenner). Impacts of new technology
assessment at the early stages of development are imperative such the technology can still be
adapted with minimal exposure risks. The following discussions give insights into the
unintended consequences of technology on various aspects of life.
Privacy erosion
When misused, technology exposes its users to significant risks, especially the younger
generation. In research conducted by the university, scholars indicate that one out of three
teenagers has been reported as victims of cyberbullying. Cybercriminals use social media to get
in touch with the target. Currently, the internet is where lots of online sex crimes are found, such
as sexting behaviour among youths. A lot of nudity information with ill effects on the consumer
is share across the internet daily (Reyns et al. 12). Furthermore, with the increase in demand and
use of the internet for various purposes, cybercrimes have also increased. In the current era, it is
easier like never to access personal private information, even without the owner realizing, due to
blurred border of privacy. Only with a few clicks within minutes, you can get access to
someone's information, such as Facebook Page, containing all whereabouts of the person such as
contact information and pictures. Once such information is accessed by cybercriminals, they can
be used for hacking or sending viruses. With the use of the internet, privacy is compromised with
the risk exposure of losing personal delegate information to cyber culprits (Meingast et al.).

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Poor social skills
With a complete shift to using of tech-based solutions, there is a likelihood of developing rise to
poor social skills. Humans are social creatures as opposed to non-human, and therefore they need
to embrace this distinct trait. Technology has killed it all. Business meetings are scheduled and
held over Skype, kids instead of calling granny or meeting up a friend in person prefer
messenger chat. On the light side, technology develops a global network that brings people
together to a global village. On the hindsight, global networking replaces real-life
communication resulting in social isolation. In addition to this, the strong social bond with
friends or family members is replaced with ''shallow'' social network friends as a consequence
people feel lonely and depressed which might result in related illness. The person's culture
change and develop a nasty behaviour of staring at a device screen all time, a habit of living in a
lone-ranger world even when with people. Replacing real-life interactions with online ones leads
to losing important social cues such as failure to read facial expressions, direct wording, tone of
voice, and body language (Engelberg, Elisabeth, & Lennart, 44).
Moral decay in education
It is indispensable that the internet is an important learning tool; scholars can google anything at
the comfort of their rooms rather than spending lots of time in the library. The problem with
internet learning is that it does not guarantee quality education always. Research indicated that
plagiarism and cheating have risen while innovation, critical thinking, and analysis have declined
(Nworie, John & Haughton, 52). Students who are exposed to technologies tend to be exposed to
games and other forms of electronic entertainments instead of studying hence leading to poor
academic performance. A higher percentage of those students studying through the internet is

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distracted by such entertainments as music, videos and games; hence instead of focusing on
studies, they are forced to entertain themselves Christensen (420).
Physical health effects
It is no doubt that technology has brought much good than bad, but the few negative effects are
felt deeply and are sometimes unbearable. These negative effects, especially the health effects,
however, are experienced if the technology is overused. Misusing and overusing technology
leads to defects in various parts of the body as a result of exposure to the electronic gadget.
Social media devices such as laptops, computers, tablets and mobile phones have attracted the
attention of most people, especially youths which find them then overuse the devices (Tkhostov).
As a result, the body parts are subjected to strains causing defects which leads to illness and
deaths sometimes. Eyestrain is one of the effects experienced and can lead to headaches, and
feeling of pain in various parts such as neck and shoulders. Blurred vision and dry eyes are the
main symptoms of eyestrain. Eyestrain is influenced by long time exposure to screen, screen
brightness, inappropriate sitting posture, and underlying visual issues. Overusing technology also
can cause sleep problems as the various lights from the devices makes the brain active, causing
sleeplessness. While using these devices, people are always at sedentary states hence leading to
less physical activities, and as a result, various negative health effects such as obesity, low
creativity, cardiovascular diseases, and other physical inactivity are experienced. Exposure to
loud music leads to hearing defects for those addicted to using earphones or headphones (Ash et
al. 108).
Psychological effects
Psychological effects of technology are felt after long exposure to the screens of the electronic
devices. These effects might not be physical but are adverse when experienced. Sleeplessness is

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the major psychological effect that results from exposure to the screen lights. Individuals
involved sleepless, and the sleep is not always quality since the brain is addicted to sleeplessness
due to much strains. Addiction to technology may seem such simple, but it is a psychological
effect that results from straining the various parts of the body through exposure to screen glows.
Addiction to technology leads to isolation which in turn affects a person and social lives and the
people closer feels the effects. Depression is another adverse mental effect of technology which
is felt through less attention of the person. Chronic smartphone stress is a kind of depression that
is influenced by text notification from social media chatting platforms. Satisfaction is what
drives people to be exposed to social media for long as they seek more information in trying to
establish truth on some matters. Lack of satisfying information and excess exaggerated
information are what contribute to anxiety and depressions changing the lifestyle of the people
(Coiera, Joan & Berg, 165).
The good news on the negative consequences of technology, although they were unforeseeable,
there exists real and practical approaches to mitigate once they are realized. The human
behaviour in the way technology is consumed and utilized is the ultimate solution to address the
above-unintended technology drawbacks.

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Work cited
Ash, Joan S., Marc Berg, and Enrico Coiera. "Some unintended consequences of information
technology in health care: the nature of patient care information system-related errors." Journal
of the American Medical Informatics Association 11.2, 2004: 104-112.
Christensen, Rhonda. "Effects of technology integration education on the attitudes of teachers
and students." Journal of Research on technology in Education 34.4, 2002: 411-433.
Coiera, E., Joan Ash, and M. Berg. "The unintended consequences of health information
technology revisited." Yearbook of medical informatics 25.01, 2016: 163-169.
Engelberg, Elisabeth, and Lennart Sjöberg. "Internet use, social skills, and adjustment."
Cyberpsychology & behavior 7.1, 2004: 41-47.
Meingast, Marci, Tanya Roosta, and Shankar Sastry. "Security and privacy issues with health
care information technology." 2006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in
Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE, 2006.
Nworie, John, and Noela Haughton. "The unintended consequences of the application of
technology in teaching and learning environments." TechTrends 52.5, 2008: 52-58.
Reyns, Bradford W., et al. "The unintended consequences of digital technology: Exploring the
relationship between sexting and cybervictimization." Journal of Crime and Justice 36.1, 2013:
1-17.
Salomon, Jean‐Jacques. "What is Technology? The Issue of its origins and definitions." History
and Technology, an International Journal 1.2, 1984: 113-156.

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Sh, Tkhostov Alexander. "Psychological adaptation in the info-communication society: The
revised version of the technology-Related Psychological consequences Questionnaire."
Psychology in Russia: State of the art 7.2, 2014.
Tenner, Edward. "Our own devices: How technology remakes humanity." 2004.