The computer has in the last few years become indispensable to humans in performing a whole lot of functions with convenience and speed that could not be imagined before computers became affordable and a household name for almost everybody in the modern world. Computers allow us to shop online, play interesting games with people, and work from home in regard to several personal and official functions. Large amounts of information can be stored in the computer that is instantly available with the click of the mouse, which enables the ordering and tracking of resources in a very convenient and fast manner. Computers allow people to interact with each other and to conduct meetings from different locations for business purposes. Businesses use computers in conducting their financial and accounting work with speed and accuracy, most of which was previously done manually by office workers with possibilities of human error that could cause a setback to the predictions of company objectives which were based on such data. Computers are a big asset in enabling education by way of the internet, allowing access to thousands of options to extract relevant research material as relevant to the subject of study. It also allows colleagues to interact with one another to enhance learning experiences and to come to required conclusions. People across the world can communicate with each other with convenience and without any high cost. The internet is the biggest asset for the common man in benefiting from the use of computers, while it is an excellent means of entertainment in providing a wide array of choices in choosing the modes of entertainment which are readily available (Joshua Givens 2008). Indeed man has become extensively dependent on the computer for meeting his needs for several of his requirements, and life without is absolutely unimaginable.
The extent to which we have got addicted to the computer is evident from the fact that a few years back we had difficulty in picking up the phone and calling someone without assistance from an operator. Parents whose children were studying away from home used to send them letters by post or telegrams for urgent work, much in contrast to the instant messages and emails that are used today. Indeed we have travelled a great distance with the technological advancements that are the order of the day in today’s world. It is impossible for the average urban citizen to do a single day without using a computer, mobile phone, printer or fax machine. People in all circles of life have now started to wonder whether it is appropriate and a healthy practice for mankind to continue becoming so severely dependent on advanced technology of this kind which may put us all in extreme jeopardy if one day the entire computer technology failed and vanished. This would entail severe negative consequences in creating a vacuum for all human roles and ways of doing things. Agreed this is a purely illusionary thought, but it is essential to ponder over the issue in the light of our over-dependence on computers.
There is no doubt about the fact that computers are now an indispensable part of our lives that affect us at home and office. It is now feared by psychologists and sociologists that if such a pattern continues, the day is not far when our minds will lose their original capabilities in being creative in view of their tasks being now performed by computers. Computers are now capable of performing jobs that were being done by workers in factories, and there seems to be no end to the additional jobs that computers will undertake in the future, thus rendering human labour and brain to lesser utility value and reducing human role to be increasingly limited to lesser functions. With the overuse of computers, especially in the 21st century, there has come to be a difference between users of computers who use them for work that truly facilitates the work and those who have in fact become addicted to them to such an extent that they just cannot do without them. It is observed that often there is compulsive overuse of computers in staying glued to them for the sake of convenience to avoid effort in using other physical and mental means (Shotton M A, 1989).
Indeed, the catching on with the internet and related services by more and more people and the increasing dependence on convenience that is enabled by using practices such as e-trading, e-shopping, e-therapy and several other services that are e-enabled, is making more and more people savour the excessive convenience enabled by these services. Due to the proliferation of such services, concerns have started to arise whether humans need to interact with each other in pursuance of their goals for getting information and assistance since the internet can provide almost everything and consequently, there is no evident need to relate with people. In this context, there would soon be a time when newspapers will become obsolete because better news services are available on the internet. Most entertainment establishments would have to close down in view of the vast choice of entertainment available online, and the huge plethora of information material available on the internet is so exhaustive that people consider its size to be incomprehensible. The threat of the internet has now become so strong that sociologists have come to believe that it may adversely impact the religious, moral and ethical value systems of the coming generations. Some theorists have started predicting what may be unimaginable for some, but they say that if there is no control and reduction in such excessive dependence on technology, it may soon gain control over the human race. Indeed a far fetched observation, but it does indicate the extent to which we have become over-dependent on technology in our daily lives. We need to contemplate over the issue in that our brain will be required to work lesser and consequently; we may soon reduce the potential of our mental faculties to achieve the wonders that mankind has achieved so far by sheer dint of the power of the brain.
It is believed by many that the increasing dependence on information as taken from the internet and the overdependence on e-books for academic purposes will eventually erode the importance of literary works, and the overall standard of literacy will begin to decline steadily in due course because the regular printed academic books will become scarce in view of their reduced popularity. In such a situation, book stores and public libraries will begin to vanish, and considering the situation that in furtherance to such developments, the printing of textbooks and other literary works may not prove to be commercially viable (Manali Oak 2008). In this context, as a consequence of high dependence on the internet, if there is a crash in the entire internet system, the situation will become deplorable. There would be very scarce means for education available, and people will have a lot of difficulty in getting access to information and knowledge. We surely cannot imagine a world without books and knowledge material. The message is clear that there should not be too much dependence on computers.
The fact remains that it was the human brain that invented the computer, and subsequent innovations that have led to the present state of affairs is making us over-dependent on such technology. There is no doubt that technology has played a vital role in the betterment of our circumstances and in the improvement in quality of life, and we will continue to do so. It does have a profound and vital effect on mankind in making society and the human race much advanced in meeting the goals of betterment and development (Todd Ayers 2008). But the high rate of such acceleration should not be allowed to erode the basic foundation in terms of adversely impacting human capabilities of thinking, creativity and communication. The development and use of advanced technology have to be balanced so that it is in keeping with the need for humans to interact and correspond with one another and continue to maintain their capabilities in the furtherance of the improved quality of the human race. We have to be in control in all situations and not allow our own creations to dominate over us in making us mere puppets in the hands of such technologies. We must retain and maintain our ideologies and individuality in keeping the use of technology as a separate identity for facilitating our tasks and not for making us a slave of them. We need to understand that technology is our dominion, and it cannot claim to have dominion over us.
References
- Alfred Lewis, New World of Computers, 1965, Dodd Mead, New York
- David Williamson Shaffer, How Computer Games Help Children learn, 2008, Palgrave Macmillan
- Eric Filiol, Computer Viruses: from theory to applications, 2005, Springer
- Importance of Computers Stressed, 2005, The Hindu
- Joshua Givens, The Increasing Human Dependence on Computers, 2008.
- Katie Kashmanian, The Impact of Computers on Schools, 2000, The Technology Source Archives, University of North Carolina
- Manali Oak, Importance of Computer education, 2008.
- Paul N Edwards, From Impact to Social Process: Computers in Society and Culture, Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, 1994, Sage Publications, Beverley Hills
- Shotton M A, Computer Addiction? A study of computer dependency. 1989 New York, Taylor & Francis.
- Todd Ayers, Importance of computers.
- Vladimir Vapnik, Estimation of Dependences Based on Empirical Data: Empirical Inference Science, 2006, Springer