Week 1 Entry

When I think of Ethics and Technology, the internet is not the first thing that comes to mind. As a biology major, when I signed up for the class, I expected that we would be discussing things like genetic engineering, cloning, or stem cell research. However, the internet is technology that influences everyone's life in a very real way. It has become such an integral part of my life that I often take it for granted, enough so that I was somewhat surprised to see that it would be a topic in a philosophy class on technology. It sems ridiculous now that I did not expect it to be a major topic of discussion, but that is an indication of the depth to which the internet is a part of my life. The idea of the technological imperative seemed to be strange and far fetched to me at first, however the more I think about it the more I begin to see the point that Ellul was making. I'm not sure I am as pessimistic as Ellul, but I certainly can see his point. It certainly makes me see technology in a different light. Most people today think of the internet as one of the best things to ever happen to the world, however Ellul, and Dreyfus as well, would caution us from thinking about only the positive elements of the internet. Dreyfus points out some unexpected results of spending time on the internet. Contrary to original expectations, studies show that as time spent on the internet increases, people show a decrease in social activity, an increase in loneliness, and occurrence of depression. This is a very interesting effect since one of the internet's supposed benefits is that it makes communication much easier. However, I do not believe that the internet could ever relpace the need for social activity, or the importance of physical presence and interaction in our social activity.