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DanielaSoto
Fitzgerald
Steinmetz
6February2015
TechnologyDevelopmentandHumanity
Allpiecesofwritingincluding
BraveNewWorld,
DanielJLevitins
Whythemodern
worldisbadforyourbrain
andAdamKirschs
WhatWouldAldousHuxleyMakeoftheWayWe
ConsumeMediaandPopularCulture?
describehowcontroversiallytechnologyhasbeen
affectingtheworldssocietyandhumanity.
Thefictionalnovel
BraveNewWorld
givesthe
readerthispeakintothefutureandhowitmaylooklikeovertime.Whilethearticlesgivesthe
readerthisinsightonhowtechnologyhasbeenaffectingthemoderndayworldinanegative
fashionalongwithitshumanity.
Tobeginwith,Levitinuseshisarticletostatehowtechnologyhasmostlyonlynegatively
affectedtheworld.Levitinstates,
Hisresearchfoundthatbeinginasituationwhereyouare
tryingtoconcentrateonatask,andanemailissittingunreadinyourinbox,canreduceyour
effectiveIQby10points(Levitin).Levitinhasthisideathataswehavebeenevolvingwithour
technologythatourhumanityislosingitself.Hebelieveshumansarelosingattentiontowhatis
importantlikeactuallyinteractingwithhumansfacetofaceratherthanbehindascreen.Levitin
hasthisimagethatsocietyissoinclinedandadaptedtotechnologythatitimpactsoursocietyso
deeply.Levitinreinstateshowthisideainhisarticlewithresearchthathehasfound,Russ
Poldrack,aneuroscientistatStanford,foundthatlearninginformationwhilemultitaskingcauses
thenewinformationtogotothewrongpartofthebrain(Levitin).Inthiscasetechnologyand

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howweareusingitisaffectingthepopulationinanegativematter,inwherebrainsarenolonger
restrainedtokeepalloftheinformation.Thewriterhasthisstrongideathatthemodernworldis
badforhumanitybecauseoftechnologyandhowthepopulationinteractswithit.Boththearticle
andthenovelsharethisidea.
Tocontinuewith,
Huxley,thewriterofthenovel,sharestheideathatLevitinhas,buthe
useshisbooktoannounceitbetweenthelines.Thenovelstates,Onherwaydowntothe
twentyseventhfloorshepulledouthersomabottle.Onegramme,shedecided,wouldnotbe
enoughhershadbeenmorethanaonegrammeaffliction(Huxley).Theauthorusesthisscene
whereLeninaissovulnerabletoshowhoweasyitwasforhertotakethedrugandinasense
slowlyloseherselfwithinjusttakingthedrug.Thedrugheresymbolizesthedependencywe
haveontechnologyandhowdeeplywefeelthatoneneedsit.Peoplearesoinclinedand
dependentonthisdrugbecauseithelpsthemforgetabouttheirissues.Inbetweenthelineswhat
Huxleywantsthereadertoseeishowifthepopulationcontinuestorelyontechnologythatthis
iswhatoursocietywilleventuallylooklike.Huxleydemonstratesitinthebookwhenhewrote,
Thesavagecaughtherbythewrists,toneherhandsfromhisshoulders,thrustherroughlyaway
atarmslength(Huxley198).Notnecessarilystatingthatwewouldhaveasavagereserve,butin
thesensethathumansaregoingtobeusingtechnologyforeverythingincludinggenetically
modifyinghumansandwhatnot.Notgoingtoanextenttocloningthepopulation,butitina
senseitcouldbeapossibilityattherateofevolutiontheworldisrushingthrough.
Inaddition,inthesecondarticleonwhichalsohasthisdeepthoughtabouthowmedia
affectsourcultureinthearticle
WhatWouldAldousHuxleyMakeoftheWayWeConsume
MediaandPopularCulture?
byAdamKirsch.Kirschstatesinthearticle,Pornography,

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however,isatermthatwouldhavenomeaninginHuxleysWorldStateor,rather,its
meaningwouldbethereverseoftheoneithasnow(Kirsch).Theauthorofthearticle
demonstrateshowthepopulationstillhasthishumanityleftinnotpublishingcertainthingslike
this,buthowtheworldisnottofarfromit.Although,theauthorrecognizesthatthepopulation
maynotpublicizeitasmuchthatitdoesnotmeanitisnotgoingon.Hementionsitnothaving
meaningin
BraveNewWorld
becauseinthenovelsexisjustanormalnorm.Adamalsostates,
In2003,therewasnoFacebook,noInstagram,noTwitter(Kirsch).Hementionsthisto
demonstratehowdifferenttimeshavebetimeshavechangedoursocietyandhowdeeply
impactedoursocietyhasbeenaffectedbytechnology.Theauthorreallyimplieshowmuch
socialmediahasbeenaffectingoursocietyandhowitishasshapedit.Fromsocialmedia
evolvinganddevelopingtoasfarasithasnowithascausedmanyissueswithourculture.Ithas
causedcyberbullyingandputtingothersdownbehindascreen.Technologyhasanexpensive
pricetopay,butyetthepopulationseemsnottobeabletolivewithoutitbecauseoneisso
dependedonit.Thisarticleaswellastheothershasshownhowtechnologyhasbeenaffecting
theworldsculture.
Inconclusion,readingthroughthearticleandthenovelmakesitdifficulttodetermine
whethertechnologysbadeffectsarereallyreplacedbythegoodones.Ifthereevenare
advantagingeffectsthatcomefromtechnologyisquestionable,comparedtothenegativeeffects
thatcomewithit.Alloftheauthorsseemtohavethisverypigmentedideathatnomatterhow
goodpeoplemaythinktechnologyishelpingoursocietythateverythinghasitsdowneffects
andinthiscaseadeeperinclinethanothers.Itseemsthatbecausethepopulationissodepended
onitthatitletsthembeaffectedbyhowtechnologyisbeingused.

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WorkCited
Huxley,Aldous.
BraveNewWorld
.NewYork:HarperPerennial,1998.Print.
Kirsch,Adam,andJenniferSzalai."WhatWouldAldousHuxleyMakeofthe
WayWeConsumeMediaandPopularCulture?"
TheNewYorkTimes
.TheNew
YorkTimes,09Nov.2013.Web.20Feb.2015.
Levitin,DanielJ."WhytheModernWorldIsBadforYourBrain."
The
Guardian
.N.p.,18Jan.2015.Web.20Feb.2015.
MakingtheWorldaHappierPlacetheOverdosingofAmerica