Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Technology. It has benefitted just about everyone here in one way or another. It runs in the veins of society and is the fuel that drives our lives. On a positive note, it has brought luxury in the life of the common man; but technology has also shown its negative connotations in the form of, among other ways, increased laziness by today’s youth. I will now discuss in detail the blessings and curses that technology have produced, beginning with the blessings. Now we are all aware that we live in a technologically advanced age. Gone are the days when transportation was scarce and very difficult, when children had to walk miles to and from school and communication with family and loved ones was only through letters. With modern technology, we have advanced from faxes to e-mail and bicycles to cars and planes. Technology has also automated many of the critical processes in the industry as well as households. Modern electronic gadgets that have entered the homes of the common man have saved him from the grind of certain daily household chores.
The internet has also shown to be a positive by assisting young people in uplifting their self-esteem through online programmes and we all know that it is the quickest means of acquiring, processing and disseminating information, which is admittedly a plus. Also, technology has led to the discovery of new treatments in previously untreatable diseases like diabetes and sickle cell anaemia, where patients would remain in medical institutions for months with little or no hope for a better life. Such developments have brought a new lease on life for so many people who previously looked at such diseases as a death sentence. Yet out of every positive that arises from such advancements, there are various negatives which I will now discuss.
The internet, despite the positive implications stated before, is more often than not used as an avenue to expose otherwise unsullied individuals to a life of depravity and sin. Pornography, online prostitution and web-based gambling are just some of the immoral acts being practised on the World Wide Web. We are also entrapped and tangled in a web of technological miscreants, resulting in the increasing number of cyber-crimes such as identity thefts, piracy, fraud and malicious hacking. Some students even use the internet as a means of cheating in research papers and assignments; simply copying what is found online without any of their own input. Although this may seem to be a positive from the students’ perspective, it many times results in the perpetrator having insufficient knowledge to proceed with a higher education.

There is also the issue of increasing unemployment due to the implementation of new technology in the workforce. It has been shown that mechanization makes work easier, cheaper, and more efficient, hence the reasoning behind business owners taking such a route. But many, on the other hand, believe that when the technology is stabilized at a high enough level, the unemployment rate will begin to decrease as people will be hired to work on or with the machines. So, it can be surmised, that while new technology may create an immediate rise in unemployment, it may not affect joblessness in the long run.

With today’s technology, kids are asking for otherwise costly gadgetry such as ‘smart phones’ and gaming consoles, which, unfortunately, puts financial strain on parents who use such gifts to gain that love from their children. We read on various news media that in certain countries, gaming and television viewing has become an addiction as people remain ‘hooked’ for more than twenty-four hours with lack of sleep or any type of rest, resulting in severe depression and mental breakdowns.

Upon realising all of these facts, it is my belief that technology is neither an absolute blessing nor a complete curse, but both. On the one hand I think that technology is positive because it helps us to improve the performance of our work. With its advancement, we have made progress in areas such as health, production, information and communication, which makes life much easier.

On the other hand, technology has greatly increased the cost of living for almost everyone in today’s society while arguably increasing the level of unemployment. Also with the tardiness that people have developed, a slew of physical and psychological ailments seem to follow. It was once said that a knife can be a lifesaving tool in the hand of one man, but an instrument of harm and death in that of another. Such an analogy should be used when viewing technology as a whole; what we do with it would either bless or curse us in the end.