No Strings Attatched

As I look at the various intersections of technology and culture, I begin to think of my favorite episode of the Twilight Zone, To Serve Man. In the episode, a race of aliens, the Kanamits, come to earth and share the “fruits of their knowledge” with humanity. Mankind is all too eager to accept the technological advancements with little thought given to potential dangers. I see this paralleled today in our own culture; are we just as eager to welcome technology into our lives, giving little thought to what the consequences may be. In this blog I hope to explore America’s use of technology to be constantly entertained via IPods, cell phones, gaming devices, etc. I would also like to explore the digitalization of media (music, films, and literature) with little concern for the impact it may have on the quality of the media. There is also the exponential growth of videogames over the past forty years and the inevitable impact that has been made on society. These are just a few of the main issues I hope to deal with, in just asking whether the fruits of technology’s knowledge is worth what it asks for in return.

At this point allow me clarify, my purpose in this blog is not to spread doom and gloom; I just want to look at just a few aspects of technology and culture with an analytical eye. I wish to cover America’s use of technology as entertainment because while I believe that IPods, cell phones, and gaming devices can be useful in moderation, I find that people use digital devices to escape the utter horror of being bored. I also want to cover the digitalization of media because while the digital distribution of media has its benefits there is still the matter of piracy. In particular the digitalization of books; while on the surface an appealing idea, is it worth making books intangible? I also desire to cover the impact of videogames on American culture, where on one hand you can have an emerging form of story telling and on the other hand videogames can cause people to miss out on meaningful life experiences. In regard to technology and culture I don’t want to appear to demonize or fear technology’s impact on our daily lives; I simply want to ask a few questions before I reach out my hands.