A predominant characteristic of the current age is the accelerating technological advancements the fruits of which the majority of Earth’s population is able to enjoy. Whether it is simple, yet efficient improvements – like the production of cleaner drinking water, or more complex ones – allowing for the collaboration of two people who have never met in real life – thanks to technology, it is possible. From this perspective, it becomes hard to distinguish between complex technology and a simple one, since it is so omnipresent in human societies and almost any task requires technological implications from a wide variety of fields. The tasks technology is used to accomplish vary significantly – and some can be considered to be unethical or violate human rights. By being so deeply integrated into human society, technological advancement has become a subject of study for sociologists, since its influence is undeniably major.
Children, being one of the most vulnerable social groups, experience the negative effects of technological progress in the form of violent video games. There has been extensive research done on this topic – however, the results vary from one study to the next. Anderson et al. found that children can exhibit desensitizing behaviors over prolonged periods of exposure to violence in media (145). Many other symptoms and psychological effects pertain to video game violence, with the general levels of aggression increasing, along with the children’s ability to focus (Anderson et al. 143). However, despite this subject receiving a grand share of scholars’ attention, a consensus of opinion has not been obtained yet.
The problem of video games affecting the mental health of people is an urgent one. In a study by Chang and Bushman, the issue manifests as a serious threat to the lives of a large number of American citizens – in particular, gun-owning households and respectively, people living near them. The study was focused on exposing children under the age of 10 to handgun violence via a video game and later observing their interest in playing with a real disabled gun (Chang and Bushman 9). Essentially, exhibiting such behaviors early in life increased the risk of engaging in real-life violence later in life – which in turn, poses a significant risk to a society’s welfare as a whole. It is important to note that despite this particular study focusing on short-term effects, the majority of other research did not find significant results due to the effects being often subconscious and manifesting in a raise of general aggression.
In a phenomenon like a video game-induced violence one can see the dangerous and harmful impact of technology-driven entertainment, generally being considered a harmless and fun activity. It raises a need for reinforced regulations in an industry so new and progressive as digital media. The body of research discussed directly addresses and expands the knowledge reserve sociologists have about the technological influence on human society.
Essentially, every kind of innovation can be viewed from different points of view, having both positive and negative connotations and a potential to be used for both the good and the bad of a collective. Due to technical development altering and, in certain fields, completely reimagining the human condition in the current times, there is a growing number of examples of positive technological impact. The potential for technological advancement is also vast. In accordance with this idea, the German government, for instance, “announced the Industry 4.0 as one of the main initiatives in its high-tech strategy” as early as 2011. (Pereira et al. 702). Industry 4.0 is, essentially, “a real-time, intelligent and digital network of people, equipment and objects” all working synchronized towards a set goal (Pereira et al. 703). In that sense, this study contributes to a greater understanding of the useful applications of technology.
While nowadays, technology serves in favor of promoting consumerism, allowing for a strict social control reaching never-before-seen levels of evasiveness – the so-called panoptic surveillance; it is still able to allow for freedom of information. It is known that the internet is full of instances of alternative living – from living off-the-grid to an expression of every sort of philosophical, political, or sociological thought. Certainly, technologies can be used to improve various areas of human life, and the most efficient application would be in education. An extravagant approach, the usage of mobile technologies for a more effective educational process for children was studied by Raelovich et al. In this paper, the researchers tested the implementation of mobile phones and designed lesson plans with a “gamification” process in mind (Raelovich et al. 349). This allowed for increased interest from students in the process. Such tendencies could possibly accelerate the scenario described by Henslin in which biotech societies serve as the final stage of society’s evolution – from the hunter-gatherer model to post-industrialism (154). Thus, the latest technologies, if used ethically, can benefit human societies immensely.
The research discussed above relates to Chapter 8 mainly by expanding the subjects outlined in the textbook. While it is suitable to admit that nowadays, technology is often used for extracting profit for technological conglomerates, other studies indicate that technological advancement provides powerful tools for improving the human condition overall. In that sense, technology, playing such an important part in contemporary society, is a subject of a great interest from a sociological perspective.
Works Cited
Anderson, Craig, et al. “Screen Violence and Youth Behavior”. Pediatrics, Vol. 140, no. 2, 2017, pp. 140-147.
Chang, Justin, and Bushman, Brad. “Effect of Exposure to Gun Violence in Video Games on Children’s Dangerous Behavior with Real Guns”. JAMA Network Open, vol. 2, no. 5, 2019, pp. 1-11.
Henslin, James. Sociology: A Down-To-Earth Approach. 13th ed., Pearson, 2017.
Pereira, Andreia, et al. “Society 5.0 as a Result of the Technological Evolution: Historical Approach”. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 10 no. 18, pp. 700-705.
Raelovich, Sattarov, et al. “Some Didactic Opportunities of Application of Mobile Technologies for Improvement in the Educational Process”. Journal of Critical Reviews, vol. 7, no. 11, 2019, pp. 348-352.