People are so addicted to their phones these days that they stumble when they walk because they don't look up. While someone is talking to them, many go on their phones and only listen to part of the conversation and not the full one. All though technology may help our work productivity, it does not particularly help the way we interact with one another. We are given false impressions through technology that we can say things over the web that we would never say in front of another human being. Our emotional touch to other people is diminished. Most importantly, technology is slowly destroying our connection to nature and our outside world.
Some of the characteristics of Romanticism include beauty, celebration of nature, and imagination. All of these things may be destroyed with technology. We lose the meaning of beauty through a social perspective that has developed through media. Through all of the exposure to photo-shopped images that people witness on the internet every single day, our perspective of beauty is of much higher standards than what it used to be. People expect more from others, believing that nearly everyone should look a certain type of way. The celebration of nature has been negatively impacted by electronics as well. More people now more than ever spend time in doors playing gaming systems, watching TV, or looking at their phones. Fewer spend times outdoors, resulting in a loss in the sense of beauty of the environment. Humans are a social species, needing social interaction in order to avoid the feeling of isolation. Technology prevents us from spending time with others outdoors in a natural environment. Many people play video games when with each other, but more meaningful memories with people are made when being together in the natural world. Furthermore, the nature gives our imagination power and creativity. Through interacting with the outside world, we gain new experiences and ideas everyday that helps our imagination expand. Technology holds our imagination back. We only experience on a phone or a laptop pictures and words that are indirect. Not experiencing conversations and moments in real life will limit our experiences, which therefore limits our imagination. Undoubtedly, it is reasonable to believe that our present world is losing Romanticism due to the usage of technology.
What do you think? Do you agree that our world is losing Romanticism due to technology?
I completely agree with your arguement. I think technology has taken away the ability to be personable. I agree with your point of photoshopped images, I think this really serves as a disadvantage for our generation. It puts pressure to conform as well as setting unrealistic ideas of beauty.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a very solid argument, but to me technology doesn't seem as incompatible with Romanticism. I don't think that spending all of your time outdoors is a necessary condition for a Romantic. After all, even Emily Dickinson herself preferred to stay in. I think that it's more about introspection and imagination. I agree with your point that social media might debilitate your imagination a bit, but on the other hand it could expose you to personal experiences of other people, which you wouldn't be able to access in any other way.
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