The Magic of Technology
Believe it or not, phones are not actually the devil reincarnated
By Jemma Keleher
As young people, we never get to stop hearing about how we need to get our heads out of our phones, get outside, and talk to each other before we go brain dead. People who don’t support modern technology constantly take it upon themselves to be the phone police, shaming anyone within ten feet of them who’s on their smartphone. Despite what these people say, modern technology isn’t the enemy—in fact, it’s probably one of the coolest and most terrific things we’ve ever had in the world.
While people’s negativity around phones may seem like a new and modern issue, it’s actually the opposite. People have always been crotchety about accepting technological changes, even when those changes were obvious breakthroughs for society. With each new invention that has the potential to revolutionize the way we live, people find a way to complain that it will make the world lazy or unproductive. Phones aren’t any different—they’re a new and fresh innovation to society, and people don’t like the change.
Admittedly, sometimes technology isn’t the best thing for us. I am a full supporter of putting my devices down to talk to people, and I love having a few hours of ditching my phone to have fun. But phones are not as terrible and destructive as people make them out to be. They are not soul-sucking monsters that rot brain cells and ruin relationships just by existing. They’re simply a new innovation in technology, just like books, planes, and lightbulbs.
The truth is, modern technology is the closest thing we’ve accomplished to real-life magic. We can see people’s faces with the tap of a screen, and we can chat with people across the globe in real time. We can take photos of what’s in front of us and digitally save them forever, and we have access to every single bit of information ever known to man. Our phones are an extension of the real world, giving us access to a plethora of experiences and thoughts that we would never be exposed to if the technology didn’t exist. Technology isn’t the demon that people make it out to be—it’s a portal to another world that didn’t exist fifteen years ago.
People will complain about teenagers being on their phones until the end of time, and there is realistically no way to stop their unsolicited rage and shame. What should be known, though, is that technology is not the devil. It’s not some beast coming to eat your children and sweep your wife off her feet. It’s simply a new innovation in society that allows us to access some of the most magical things in life at the touch of a screen.