Essay For Zeek the Geek So please no one else msg

Student 1

Random Student

Mrs. Wilson

English 1010

14 November 2014

Unintended Consequences

There is an old adage that says sometimes the cure can be worse than the illness. In his

article “Technology, Movement and Sound” Ed Bell asserts that the advances in technology for

society are not always positive. While they may provide convenience, expand capabilities or

create efficiencies, they can also bring unintended consequences. I agree with his thesis. In his

article, Bell relates how the leaf blower took a simple task and made it complex. A contemporary

example of technology that is not positive in all ways is the cell phone. It would be interesting to

hear Alexander Graham Bell’s thoughts if he could see how his basic tool for communication,

the telephone, has developed into a small handheld item that controls the daily lives of so many

in today’s world. The rake was a simple tool that solved a basic need. It was designed to

perform one task and did it well. The same can be said for the cell phone but what about the

unintended consequences of this simple device? Cell phone texting eliminates personal

communication which builds relationships; using cell phones can be expensive; and heavy cell

phone usage can cause physical ailments.

In the early days of the telephone it addressed the need for faster communications. The

telegraph could send simple messages, but it lacked the personal nature of hearing the voice of

the person to whom you were communicating. And you could respond in a two way

conversation. But it was limited by the physical requirement for poles and wires strung across

the countryside. What an improvement it would be if those physical constraints were eliminated.

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That question spawned the development of the wireless communication device - first bag phones,

then large portables, and now the relatively tiny cell phone. At a moment’s notice we can

communicate with anyone around the world. And strangely enough, that cell phone has in many

ways led us right back to the telegraph. Texting or sending e-mails or posting on social media is

replacing personal contact. True, you can communicate 24 hours a day. But while the words

may be the same, they can lose their meaning without seeing the person’s reactions. It has also

emboldened people to make comments that they would not otherwise make. They are less

sensitive to the feelings of the recipient and they often exercise less restraint in their

communication.

There is a tradeoff between the values of time versus money. Just as the leaf blower

accomplishes its task at a much higher financial cost than the rake, the cell phone can be

expensive. Just a few years ago my monthly rate for a land line was approximately thirty dollars.

Today my cell phone bill can approach two hundred dollars. One of the primary benefits

described about the leaf blower was it saves time. You can clear a much larger area in less time.

But there is a place for taking things at a slower pace. I enjoy the time away from the hustle and

bustle while raking the leaves. The cell phone allows you to communicate instantaneously, but

that also means the expectation from the caller is an immediate response. In my own

environment I am shackled to the cell phone twenty-four hours a day. It makes it hard to escape

from the rapid pace of today’s society. The attachment to the cell phone is becoming a

psychological crutch. It has spawned a new phobia. Nomophobia is defined as the fear of being

out of contact with someone via mobile phone and the phobia is growing exponentially. A

recent study conducted in 2012 by the British security firm SecurEnvoy reports that 66 percent

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of 1000 people polled said they are afraid of losing or being away from their cell phones. (LA

Times, 2012)

The impact is not only mental. Using the leaf blower rather than the rake robs us of very

beneficial exercise. It changes the type of exercise that you get. Rather than tasking muscles to

pull the rake across the field, you have to use the back muscles to hold the leaf blower. It sounds

farfetched, but the cell phone has brought about new ailments as well. One of the most common

is known as “text neck”. As people use their phones, they typically lean the head forward rather

than sitting in an upright position. As the body leans forward, the weight of the head has an

increased strain on the neck and the spine. Over time this “text neck” can cause pain and in

extreme cases require surgery. Another common ailment is carpal tunnel syndrome brought

about by the repeated motions of the hands, particularly the thumbs on the small cell phone

screens. One of the most serious potential health risks of the cell phone is the contribution to

development of a brain tumor. In a 2008 interview with the Scientific American, Lawrie Challis,

former chairman of the U.K.’s Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research program said,

"For people who've used their cell phones for more than ten years and who use their phone on

the same side as the tumor, it appears there's an association. We can't rule out the possibility of

risk." Two recent examples of heavy cell phone users that died of brain tumors were well known

attorney Johnny Cochran and Senator Ted Kennedy. My daughter has a classmate who is barely

into her twenties and suffering from a brain tumor. Like the gentlemen mentioned, she too wore

a Bluetooth receiver for her cell phone and became victim to another unintended consequence.

The objective of new innovation is to make our jobs easier and allow us to be more

effective. The leaf blower met that goal. So did the cell phone. It was developed to give us a

better means of communication. It is also true that it is faster and more convenient, so it met its

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goal. But it robs us of our privacy and of our time and brings about unintended consequences.

Like the leaf blower and the cell phone, the benefits are outweighed by the increased

expectations that we can produce a greater quantity of work. It is important to note that we

cannot hang on to the past. Innovation is inevitable. But even with that in mind, there will

always be times when the rake is the better option.

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Bell, E. (2009) Technology, Movement, and Sound. In The Composition of Everyday Life (4th

ed.) (pp 470-471) Cengage Learning

Netburn, D. (2012, February 17) Nomophobia: -- fear of being without your phone – is on the

rise. LA Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com

Wenner, M (2008, November 21). Fact or Fiction? Cell Phones Can Cause Brain Cancer.

Scientific American. Retrieved from http://www.Scientific American.com