Technology & humankind Essay Example for Free

Technology humankind Es dictateTechnology has done a lot for human beings. Without the development in technology it is possible that the pyramids would never have been built and neither would we be able to communicate with each other from remote places all over the world. Some say that these technological advances such as the internet and cellular phones are a boon on ordering and humankind yet there are also those detractors who say that it is has non simplified life in so much as it has complicated matters. One of these things is the impact that video has on society.In order to arrive at a more concrete understanding of the issue at hand, it is interesting to establish what has been discussed to a current issue. One of these issues is the effect of media, particularly television, on the moral fiber of todays jejuneness. This will be discussed in brief to provide an accurate detail of just how these media effects theories shag be applied to todays social problems. As a quick glimpse at the recent events that grace the newspapers headlines show, there is indeed a growing concern over the violence that happens in schools all over the country (Chomsky et al 2002).The issue is non limited to the increase teenage pregnancies or even drug abuse. It encompasses a whole range of issues such as bully and perhaps the most frightening, schools shootings (Chomsky et al 2002). With all of these problems plaguing not only the education system but also the entire nation as of late, the question that comes up is whether or not this is actually caused by the ruby television shows and movies in the cable TV programming. dapple there has been no irrefutable data that lends confidence to the theory that godforsaken shows in television is the real culprit behind todays take and often violent youth, there can also be no argument against the statement that though violence on television may not be the sole cause, it is one of the contributory causes (Fisher et al 2004). There are a number of media effects theories that solidify the argument that it is violence in media or in television that has led to the deterioration in the moral foundation of todays youth (Gauntlett 1998).A good example of this would be the Hypodermic Needle Model, which is a theory that the enamor of media is so powerful that it can be used to inject messages into the minds of the audience and control them (Gauntlett 1998). While it is not being suggested that television is being used a medium to brainwash todays youth and bowl over them into an army of zombies for the media, it is being proposed, however, that the programming and quality of shows on television, such as violent programs, has a profound effect upon the youth (Shanahan and Morgan 2000).The influence, therefore, that television has upon the youth is undeniable. While this influence may have waned in the advent of the internet age and YouTube, it still bears a considerably large amount of influence over the moderner children who are not able to access such media devices (Fisher et al 2004). Therein lays the danger young children with impressionable minds are exposed to violence on television leading to a deterioration in the moral and ethical foundations of todays generation.Another interesting theory to correlate the cause, violence in television, with the effect, violent behavior of the youth, is the postmodernist imagination on the approaches to the Media Effects Theory (Gauntlett 1998). The main ideas of this theory blaspheme on the item that the ideas and perceptions of individuals has already been preconditioned by media in a sense that whatever input signal or meaning that is derived from media is already placed in a predefined context (Fisher et al 2004).This school of thought therefore suggests that in analyzing the behavior and effects the point that media has already preconditioned the minds of the individuals and influenced the reception (Shanahan and Morgan 2000 ). As such, prone the volatile nature of the mind of a child, the input that a child receives from violent programming on the television creates a preconceived notion of what the real world is like. By showing violence on television, a child may think and perceive that such behavior is actually socially pleasurable (Fisher et al 2004).Studies have shown that there have been causal links found between aggressive and violent behavior in children and the type of television programs that these children generally watch. This can also be applied to the ill-famed Columbine shooting wherein the investigators have theorized that the motivation for the shooters may have been influenced by forms of media (Fisher et al 2004). As give tongue to in one of the reports, Among the many theories that have surfaced regarding the motivation for this incident the most prevalent one rest the effect that media has on the minds of todays youth. (Fisher et al 2004) While there are those who theorize th at it was the fact that the shooters were isolated from the rest of their classmates thus prompting feelings of helplessness, insecurity and depression, as well as cultivating a unassailable desire for attention, the attention has been focused on the effect violent video games such as Doom, which the shooters much played, and rock music such as Rammstein. Every day the world searches for answers for many of the would-be avoidable tragedies such as school shootings, gang wars and juvenile teen violence.The reason for the term avoidable stems from the fact that many consider these as effects of media influences and morally condemnable social behavior (Fisher et al 2004). While media and television, in particular, are not the main causes for these tragedies, it cannot be denied that they have contributed to these problems (Fisher et al 2004). There may not be an easy solution for this but by identifying the causes that have led to this dilemma a big(p) step has been taken to rectif y this situation and to prevent more disasters such as this from ever occurrent again.There are some things that we really dont need in life. We must find out to lessen our dependencies on technology and live (if possible) without using them too much. Our ancestors were able to live without microwave ovens and television I dont see why we cant. This all may just be future talk but one thing is certain. Todays society has become so dependent on the benefits that technology has brought in making online life possible that we have come to a point of no return where we can no longer imagine life without it.If you think otherwise, turn off your cellular phone and unhook the jack of your computer and see how long you can dwell without it.ReferencesChomsky, Noam Herman, Edward (1988, 2002). Manufacturing Consent The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York Pantheon. Gauntlett, D. (1998) Ten things wrong with the effects model in Harindranath, R. , and Linne, O. , (eds) Approaches t o Audiences A Reader London Arnold. http//www. leeds. ac. uk/ics/theory/effects.htm Fisher, Deborah , Hill, Douglas , Grube, Joel , Gruber, Enil . (2004) Sex on American Television An Analysis Across plan Genres and Network Types. Journal of Broadcasting Electronic Media 484, 529-553 Gerbner, G. , Gross, L. , Morgan, M. , Signorielli, N. (1986). Living with television The dynamics of the cultivation process. In J. Bryant D. Zillman (Eds), Perspectives on media effects (pp. 17-40). Hilldale, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.