Technological Dependency

Hello everyone. My rhetoric and media class is coming to an end and this will be my last post for the semester. Thank you all for following my posts these past months and hopefully you gained some insight into how technology is being used today, and it's potential in the future.

In this last blog post, I will be covering the topic of technological dependency. Cell phone addiction has become so prevalent that it now has a name: nomophobia. We have become so reliant on using our phones to carry out tasks that we may not know how to live effectively in society without it.

When you rely on something, there is less of an incentive to learn it for yourself, simply because you do not need to. This is why technology is so dangerous. For example, if you rely on a friend to give you answers in class, you do not need to know the content as well, because it is already done for you. If you lose the friend, then you are stuck in the class, far behind on the content. Similar to this, if you lose your phone, you are stuck in society with less knowledge on the things you used to look up on the internet before.

We rely on our phones for entertainment, knowledge, convenience, connectedness and many more things. Just like withdrawals from addiction, taking away someones phone can have psychological consequences. According to Tim Elmore in his article, Nomophobia: A Rising Trend in Students, 66 percent of adults in the United States suffer from nomophobia.

Articles like this show that the problem is only getting worse. As technology advances, our reliance increases. Since technology is everywhere, nomophobia may only be a temporary side effect, but it is definitely something to pay attention to. If technology becomes so advanced that we rely on it for most everything, then our lives will be dedicated to being machine operators.

Sweden Develops New Electronic Currency

Recently, Sweden has been working on making a digital form of currency. I first saw this when I was making a top ten list for people to follow on Twitter for a Rhetoric and Media class I am taking at Lewis and Clark College. I immediately starting thinking of ways Sweden could replace paper money with digital money and started doing research. According to Financial Times, the amounts of notes and coins have decreased in circulation by 40 percent from 2009 in Sweden. Digital transfer of currency through things like internet shopping has already started taking over.

Cecilia Skingsley, deputy governor at the Riksbank, told the Financial Times, “This is as revolutionary as the paper note 300 years ago. What does it mean for monetary policy and financial stability? How do we design this: a rechargeable card, an app or another way?” This reveals Riksburg bank is still in the beginning stages, but they believe it could have a huge impact on the way people spend money. 



Today in my economics class, we talked about black market exchanges. This term black market just means it does not account for the total GDP for the country. Most of the time, this consists of small unrecorded transactions between people. Electronic currency will replace this setback in tracking money and make results for economics more accurate.

No one has done this to the extent Sweden is planning on doing. The process might take a few years, but if it is successful, they will set the bar for the rest of the world. Technology is being integrated in so many new ways of society, why not currency as well?

Sweden Develops New Electronic Currency

Recently, Sweden has been working on making a digital form of currency. I first saw this when I was making a top ten list for people to follow on Twitter for a Rhetoric and Media class I am taking at Lewis and Clark College. I immediately starting thinking of ways Sweden could replace paper money with digital money and started doing research. According to Financial Times, the amounts of notes and coins have decreased in circulation by 40 percent from 2009 in Sweden. Digital transfer of currency through things like internet shopping has already started taking over.

Cecilia Skingsley, deputy governor at the Riksbank, told the Financial Times, “This is as revolutionary as the paper note 300 years ago. What does it mean for monetary policy and financial stability? How do we design this: a rechargeable card, an app or another way?” This reveals Riksburg bank is still in the beginning stages, but they believe it could have a huge impact on the way people spend money. 



Today in my economics class, we talked about black market exchanges. This term black market just means it does not account for the total GDP for the country. Most of the time, this consists of small unrecorded transactions between people. Electronic currency will replace this setback in tracking money and make results for economics more accurate.

No one has done this to the extent Sweden is planning on doing. The process might take a few years, but if it is successful, they will set the bar for the rest of the world. Technology is being integrated in so many new ways of society, why not currency as well?

Role of Social Media in Elections

In this election, social media has had the biggest presence ever. News feeds across the world are filled with Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. This election was classified as historic. A main reason for this was everyone could be involved through the tools of social media.

In the past, campaigning, travel, and speeches have been a huge role in getting known as a candidate. These still play a part, but now a strong presence on social media is just as important. Whether the media portrays a positive or negative image, your name is still getting out there. Donald Trump, in particular, strongly took advantage of this. Most of the time this publicity was negative, but it effectively made him one of the most well known people in the world.

This election has shown us the power the internet now plays. Donald Trump has over 14 million followers on twitter, Hillary Clinton has 10.7 million, and Bernie Sanders has 2.8 million. These numbers are large, but do not even aproximate the number they actually reach. This reach can increase tenfold or more with retweets alone. It also does not include endless third party accounts that bank off of publicity from these candidates. However, this reach comes with it's drawbacks.

Oftentimes, negative aspects get seen the most. Yes, it gets the candidates name out there, but it also paints a very negative picture. When we see posts like this, we loose trust in what these candidates stand for. This creates problems. The President of the United States should be someone "we the people of the United States" should have confidence in to do good. The president is the leader of our country. The image he conveys carries over to us as a people whether we like it or not.

To show reach, here is an example of a third party account that made a video about the presidential debate. This is a copy of the video that got nearly 30 million views on Facebook. Presidential Debate Preview

The Integration of Social Norms

Today, technology is at the threshold for social norms. It has the power to change our actions based on what others see as popular. We have seen changes in social norms in things like planking, gym pics, duck face, and everyones favorite: selfies.

Believe it or not, there was once a time when selfies didn't exist. At first, this form of self imagery was not accepted by the public especially for the male role. Selfies were associated with being too self oriented. Now selfies are everywhere. What changed?

One reason is simply because we see famous people whom we respect doing these norms. For instance, Bradley Cooper's selfie at the Oscars. This selfie with stars like Ellen DeGeneres, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, and others went instantly viral. This got huge hype online and made taking selfie's seem socially acceptable for the public.


Another way social norms have been integrated is through new platforms on the Internet. Snapchat and Instagram stories are based off of communicating through live events or face messaging. Now basic pictures of your face are going out of style as well. No, I'm not saying you're ugly. I am just talking about the new filters that are in almost every form of social media. This has changed the way people present themselves online. It is an interesting concept, because if only a few people did it, it could be considered a dishonest portrayal. However, since everyone is doing it, you are falling out of the social norm if you have less vibrant, unedited pictures.

In retrospect, the evolution of societies' norms are largely influenced from technology and the people using it. Who is to say what the next outbreak will be. All we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

How is digital learning going to change schools and education?

Technology is evolving fast. I am twenty years old and I already have seen many tools in the education system become obsolete. As a kid, my peers and I thought the old projector machines on the carts were one of the coolest things to mess around with. We would always make hand signs to project onto the board for the whole class to see. Most of the time these signs weren't the most appropriate, but they would sure get the best laugh. If we got caught, we'd get stuck scrubbing the marker off of those translucent pieces of paper. Those things never seemed to get fully cleaned. Either that, or we'd have to endure every elementary kids nightmare. No Recess! 

Later, a much more advanced projector came out. One that could be attached to a computer which eliminated the translucent sheets. You'd think that we would be amazed by the new technology. Not really. We just liked the idea that our teacher couldn't make us clean those dang sheets anymore! However, even though we didn't give technology like this much thought in the moment, there were a lot of advances made. 

Technology advances are on an upward rise. This makes an interesting scenario for kids who will go to school in the future. There is an article on this very topic titled: 6 Ways Digital Learning is Changing Teaching. Through articles like this and other research, we can get an idea what the future has in store for education. However, nothing can be said for sure. That is a responsibility for future generation to inherit. Maybe it is not our place to predict, but to try our very best to keep up with current technology. If we do this, maybe we can prolong the time it takes to get passed up in knowledge by some little kid.

Technology vs Intelligence

Every day, technology makes advances, creating more efficiency and more things for us to learn. It is advancing faster than ever before, which raises the question: Is it more important to be intelligent, or proficient at using technology? The more technology changes, the more our definition of intelligence changes. Technology is now becoming the measuring stick for categorizing someone as smart.

Today, we have contact with mobile technology at almost all times of the day. This creates a strong reliance to such a powerful tool. We do not need to learn or memorize things when we can just look them up on their cell phones. In future generations, this is the life our children will know.

It is hard for me to contemplate how far we will take this. Will technology stop evolving? Can it stop evolving? What kind of pit are we in and where does it cross the point of no return to the physical life that is diminishing today?

In my mind, I do not see the evolution of technology slowing down in the future. If it becomes too advanced, will we have the ability to control it, or will it take over our lives, leaving us with no desire for the physical world? If we live in a society one day where we are completely reliant on technology, who will be in charge? Technology or us?

Twitter Is An Online Community

Reciprocal relationships, common interests, and social support all are determinants in why Twitter is a community. Some skeptics argue that it is not a community, because it is online. It is true that online relationships do not have the same amount of social cues as face-to-face. However, even though some aspects are diminished, most aspects thrive.

Reciprocal relationships are import in any form of community. Getting feedback and having the feeling of inclusion and purpose is one the main reasons people join communities. In Twitter, we see examples of this with retweeting, tagging, and following each other.

Another motivating factor in communities is entertainment. This concept in dominated in Twitter. This phycological fulfillment further puts the title of community on Twitter. Entertainment also gives the opportunity to extend your reach through retweets, which turns into more followers. This factor motivates people to gain more feedback.

Twitter is also a means of stress relief. Another important factor in communities. This can be achieved by simply going through your news feed and enjoying the subjects you come across, or from direct contact with other people about your situation.

Communities and Twitter are tied together in a sense that they are both successful through goals. Groups of people with common goals can work towards them more efficiently.

Social Shaming In Technology

Recently in my rhetoric and Media class, we have been going over social shaming. When technology comes into play, we see this shaming more commonly. Interestingly, I came across an example of this in a essay written 100 years ago when technology was not thought to be a factor in social shaming.

Sir Philip Sidney wrote an essay titled "The Defense of Poesy." In it, he discussed how poetry has such a vital importance in society. At this time, poetry, writing and plays were the most current technology to convey a message. Just like social media today, social shaming was a part of poetry as well. Sidney argues that humor is a vital part of poetry, but only when it is used correctly. He had a negative outlook at many poets in England, because they used social shaming and sinful acts to create synthetic laughter for the audience.

"They stir laughter in sinful things... For what is it to makes folks gape at the wretched beggar and a beggarly clown; or, against law of hospitality, to jest at strangers, because they speak not English so well as we do?" (Sir Philip Sidney 1914).

These examples of social shaming are what we refer to today as punching down; making fun of those who don't have a voice for themselves. We see this today along with the concept of punching up, which is to challenge authority or an established concept. Probably one reason Sidney did not include punching up in his description was because to go against authority was often considered treason, giving a big incentive not to do it.

This example from 100 years ago shows that people find ways to make fun of people for some reason. However, technology determines the scale that it is spread.

Cell Phone Addiction

Today 5% of people said they would chose their cell phone over there friends. Will this number increase if technology determinism keeps it's current course?

As time goes on, cell phones in particular are becoming a necessity more than a luxury. The world as we know it relies on technology to function at a fast and efficient pace. Phones connect you with the outside world, and almost always play a part in your career. With technological advances, these concepts are more prevalent.

This also means that if you do not have the latest form of technology, you are behind in many aspects of society including school, daily activities, and personal connections. The picture below demonstrates this, but also shows the disconnection with personal contact.


Younger generations are growing up with technology, already making it a way of life. This supports the argument that the statistic of people choosing cell phones over friends will rise.

Effect of Technology on Community

Technology has undeniably become a major part of society. It has widespread throughout the world and smartphones are projected to be owned by 70 percent of the World's population by 2020 (Stephany Mlot). However, some say this much technology is a bad thing and has hurt our communities. I disagree. I will be arguing that it has merely changed the way we interact with one another.

Malls, restaurants, bars. All full of people and laughter. As you walk down the street, children old and young play stickball in the old car lot that went out of business. The sun beats down on the boys, half of them shirtless, all of them with a baseball hat of their favorite pro team. As the kids round the handmade bases they made from the scrap yard around the corner, a smile comes to your face and you think, "This is community."

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. All full of people and laughter. You just had a bad day at work where nothing was going right. The bad things that happened are eating at your head, so you decide to sit on your couch and open Facebook. A meme of the Presidential debate catches your eye and makes your mood a little better. A news cast comes up on the new addition to the school and you see how it has helped so many people around you. Then you come across your friends profile and see he is having a baby and starting a new chapter in his life. A smile comes to your face and you think, "This is community."

I wrote about these two time periods to contrast how the perception of community has changed. Not gone away, but changed. Community and interaction will always be apart of society, even if we lose some great traditions along the way.

Introduction to Outward Thinking

Introduction to Blog Posting:

Hello everyone. I will be starting up this blog to address topics that make you question and seek the truth. I will not only break down concepts, but give you the tools to think critically and come to your own conclusions. Together we can unlock answers that go past the norms of popular belief and bypass any mental lock, with the keys of truth. I encourage you to challenge my thinking and go deeper than what is simply on the page. As Howard Rheingold said, "Criticism is free teaching," and each of us have a lot of learning to do. I will be posting each week, addressing topics that are detrimental to how our society functions. Join me in the journey to find the answers that can make our World a better place.