Like most millennials, I love technology. I love computers, tablets, smartphones, iPads, iPods, laptops, iPhones--did I miss any? Doubtless I did. There are just so many gadgets to chose from and afford, how could anyone own all of them? Most of us are on our way. I, for one, have a laptop, phone (a dumb one), and an iPod. So, I do not have as much as some of my peers, but that will probably change once I graduate and having a decent paying job. It's inevitable, too, that I'll be wishing for more technology after I have the latest. Once I get the latest smartphone or Apple watch, I'll be wanting the Next Big Thing-- and I don't care.
What I do care about is what some of the Next Big Things will be. There has been talk for quite a few years about artificial intelligence. I'd say we already have artificial intelligence, considering all computers and other gadgets are smarter than me. I couldn't even put one back together if I took it apart, while Siri will tell you what the capital of Liechtenstein is (it's Vaduz, thanks Google). In my Writing for the Digital Age class, my professor said, if I remember correctly, that artificial intelligence is considered intelligent if the technology can communicate i.e. speak back to you, something along those lines. If that is the general consensus, then we've have already achieved that. Even if the average laptop cannot answer me verbally as Siri can, it can respond to my question. If my laptop did talk back to me, however, I think I'd be more intrigued than freaked out. This might sound strange, but I really would not mind if my laptop or iPod had a conversation with me-- as long as I was expecting it. I have a very different opinion for machines that talk back without my prior knowledge.
So what am I really, truly afraid of with technology? I have two that are often on my mind. The second I will address in my next post. The first is small and only makes me pause every once and a while: staring at a screen all day will ruin my eyes. And not only that, the act of sitting for several hours nonstop is not healthy. I've had crappy eyesight since I was in the second grade, and it continued to get worse until recently, and until recently, I have not spent a significant amount of time in front a TV or computer screen. Similarly, I do get quite a bit of exercise, from walking nearly every day to working with horses every day of the week.With that in mind, it does not make much sense for me to be worried. Still, I've been noticing how some things.
To start, after I've been watching videos on Youtube or typing for a few hours, and I look up, my vision is blurry. My head spins, and I feel disoriented. It's not just the classic "Where am I?" when you've waken up from a long, deep nap or passed out after a night of partying; it's genuine confusion. A few times, my heartbeat has sped up significantly and anxiety has speared through me because I truly could not recall why I was where I was or what I was supposed to go do.
The second thing I have noticed is that my back, neck, and shoulders ache after a while. I'm not even legal yet to drink yet and I'm having pain like someone twice my age! My doctor said that sitting for long periods of time are not the cause; the cause is probably falling off horses for years. Even so, sitting for long periods, whether it be before of after I exercise, does not help. Not to mention that when the homework piles on and I have to be in front of a screen for lengthy bits of time, I want to snack and eat food that would make my doctor cringe.
So my tecknofears, as we called them in class, are not that many, and not very serious. All the same, they are still there, and, technically, I'm afraid they might get worse.
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