Technology, Good or Bad?

     Technology, like any other great thing has its downsides.  We are becoming dependent on it for every little thing.  Past generations could solve complicated math problems and read amazing novels by themselves, without the aid of any piece of technology. Compare that to us, who use calculators every chance we can for problems that they could have done by hand. Teachers back then used to be able to assign any long novel for a report or assignment, now many student's simply read summaries and spark notes online.  Dependency isn't the only problem technology presents, it also provides cheap and easy distractions to steal our attention away.  Look in any major university's classroom, guaranteed you will find student's fiddling with their phones, playing games, or watching video's on YouTube. Most young adults can't seem to go for more than an hour without checking their texts or email, imagine having to send a letter and waiting days or even weeks for a reply. Technology is also causing us to be separated from those around us, look in a school cafeteria and you will see people "eating" with each other, when in actuality they are all on their phones or computer holding conversations with people not even remotely close.  Of course these are all real concerns that go along with technology, but does this mean that we should stop using it?  Are we losing more than we are gaining?  The answer is clear, no we are not.  Compared to the good that comes with it, like being able to Skype with people halfway across the planet instantly, or new medical advances curing people who just 20 years ago may not have quality of life.  So while the good does outweigh the bad, we should definitely be mindful that the side effects are always there.