We've Always Been This Way

http://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/proof-that-technology-hasnt-changed-who-we-are

This article explains that we have not changed in our obsession with technology, simply the technology has changed instead. It is undeniable that our society is slightly media-obsessed, and many people think that has become especially true since the development of the smart phone which has provided an instant connection from your pocket to the rest of the world in a matter of moments.

The article shows pictures of people on our form of technology now, ignoring others when sitting with them, connecting themselves to others throughout the world, while neglecting to have a common interaction with an actual human being. There are then a slew of present-day pictures compared to those from the early 20th century, showing the similarities between the time periods.

Even in the early 1900's people were ignoring human interactions through their reading the newspapers, much like how people currently look to their phones. The article explains that even though the world is changing, and technology is becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday lives, we as humans are not changing the way we react to this new technology.

I thought that this was really interesting because when I think of technology, I never considered the newspaper to be one of them. But as newspapers became so common in the 20th century, people used them to get the news, much like how people currently use their phones to get the news online, or through some other social media outlet.

There is then this quote at the end of the article:

"The art of conversation is almost a lost one. People talk as they ride bicycles — at a rush — without pausing to consider their surroundings…What has been generally understood as cultured society is rapidly deteriorating into basebsss and voluntary ignorance. The profession of letters is so little understood, and so far from being seriously appreciated, that…Newspapers are full, not of thoughtful honestly expressed public opinion on the affairs of the nation, but of vapid personalities interesting to none save gossips and busy bodies."

-Marie Corelli, Free Opinions, Freely Expressed, 1905.

Clearly, with every new technology that is released to the public, we are going to become enthralled with, and have a period of time with pure obsession, and crazy tendencies when concerned with our devices, but this has happened to generations before our own, and will most definitely happen continuously into the future.