Positive (Technology makes us smarter)
Back in the early days of Google, people used to say, "If all the info is at our fingertips,
why bother remembering anything?" But instead of making us dumber, Google became so
important in our lives, even at work, that it turned into a verb.
In a world where technological advancements are rapidly transforming the way we live,
work, and communicate, we support the notion that technology makes us smarter and it is
embedded in our society. Growing up in the Philippines, many of us were told that calculators
could make us bad at math. We weren't allowed to use them and had to use log books for
multiplication and division instead. The idea was that doing these basic math operations
manually would make us better at math. But let me tell you, that wasn't the case at all. Banning
calculators didn't make us better at math; if anything, it held us back. It's a bit like what
technology does sometimes.
As advocated by John Perry Barlow, a visionary thinker and co-founder of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation,
Technology is not just a tool; it is embedded in our society, in return enhancing our
cognitive ability. One of the main ways technology boosts our intelligence is by giving us access
to tons of information.
we can learn about almost anything. Online platforms, digital libraries, and search
engines let us explore and learn in ways we couldn't before. This access to information
empowers us to learn more, broadening our minds.
technology gives us a form of everlasting memory, for us to remember and learn from
any past event. It fosters cognitive diversity by allowing us to examine, debate, and share our
thoughts, turning us into conversational thinkers. Moreover, technology has increased our
literacy, as evidenced by our heightened engagement in writing and reading through texts,
emails, tweets, and other mediums.
When it comes to education, using technology has many advantages. According to
Borysiuk (2013) in his article “Benefits and disadvantages of the use of information technologies
in education, technology can increase interest and motivation among learners.
By introducing new ways of learning and involving students in scientific and technical
progress, technology makes learning more engaging. It also encourages self-study among
students. With technology, students can take more control of their learning, leading to a deeper
understanding of the subject. Additionally, online education provides new opportunities for
students to be more involved in their learning. Through online platforms, students can interact
with teachers and classmates, join discussions, and work together on projects, all of which
enhance their learning experience.
Negative (Technology makes us dumber)
Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed judges, and honorable opponents, allow me to begin
with a quote from René Descartes, the father of post-medieval Western philosophy, who once
said, "I think, therefore I am." These words capture the essence of human consciousness and
our unique ability to reason. But what if this ability, which makes us human, isn't just ours
anymore? What if technology, with its ever-growing intelligence, could not only mimic our
thoughts but outdo them? Welcome to the new world, where we're letting technology do our
thinking and, maybe, making ourselves a bit dumber in the process.
We really think technology can make us smarter, but we've got to use it wisely. Think
about it— from old-school calculators to smartphones that do everything for us, we're relying
more and more on technology to think for us. Our gadgets are so smart now that they can beat
us at chess, make music, and even write news
But even with all these perks, some experts are worried. They say we're getting too
dependent on technology. They think we're turning into semi-smart beings, trading our
independence for convenience. They say our reliance on technology might actually be making
us less smart, not more. They've even done studies showing that we're forgetting how to do
basic math in our heads or remember important stuff like phone numbers.
Plus, as technology gets fancier, we might start struggling to figure out how it all works or
make decisions without its help. Sure, technology makes us faster, but it might also be making
us less smart. We're getting so hooked on technology that we're forgetting how to think for
ourselves, analyze stuff, and make smart choices. We're turning into a bunch of robots, happy to
let tech do all our thinking.
Therefore, we think it's important to find a middle ground between using technology and
relying on our own brains. We should teach critical thinking in schools and get people more
involved in making decisions for themselves. One thing's for sure: we can't let technology take
over completely. We've gotta keep our thinking skills sharp and stay in control of our own minds.
Otherwise, we might end up more like machines than humans, and that's not a good look.
