Saturday 13 August 2011

Computers, a modern marvel

Computers are a modern innovation. Little is known about the effects that computers bring as extensive research has not been carried out on all fields of the computer age. Furthermore, research papers have not been published as a lack of scrutiny into this new world. Today however, I am going to clarify that the benefits of the usage of computers far outnumber and outweigh the harms that computer bring.

Computers and the technology today allow people to receive any type of information in the world right at their fingertips. For example, in America, computers is the basis of every profession, be it to write up information, to check background information for police officers, to issue fishing licenses at fishing stores. This brings about greater convenience and efficiency, as the computing power of the computer is far greater than the human brain. Furthermore, this would also eliminate human errors and replace it with mechanical precision.


Next, Computers permit us to socialise with our friends and get connected with our family who live a great distant from us. This means that one would no longer need to physically be there to get in touch with someone pertaining a certain issue. One of the largest developing platform of these social networking sites is Facebook, with more than 750 million active users, with 50% of their active users logging on to Facebook in any given day. This reduces the distance between continents and makes the world a much more warm and close environment.
However, it is noted that some people complain of computer games being a harmful vice of the computer age that will result to definite drop in grades or the inattention at work. As shown, a Time magazine cover article reported about the issue of "over-parenting," written by Nancy Gibbs in 2009, stated that "the percentage of  "free gaming time dropped 25 percent" from 1981 to 1997. This is a huge misconception and to counter this argument, research from the University of Rochester published in the world's most respected science journal, Nature, offers compelling evidence that playing first-person computer games radically enhances visual attention skills. Video and computer games also help children gain self confidence and many games are based on history, city building, and governance, which indirectly teach children about aspects of life on earth. Although addiction to gaming is a bad thing, but computer games alone, if taken in moderation is actually beneficiary, so it is untrue to state that  computer games are definitely harmful.

Computers are part of almost everybody's everyday lives, and with the continuous expansion of the computer industry, computers will only be increasing every year as more capabilities are developed, and the true long term effects of the usage of computer will yet to be revealed.

References:

Author unknown (Date unknown) The Concerns
Media Awareness Network © 2010
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/video_games/concerns/

Author unknown (2003) Computer games good for IQ
MediLexicon International Ltd © 2011
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/3680.php

Author unknown (Date unknown) Computers
123HelpMe.com © 2011
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=59903

Author unknown (Date unknown) Statistics
Facebook © 2011
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Timothy Rudon (Date unknown) 10 Benefits Of Video Games
SelfGrowth.com © 1996-2011
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/10_Benefits_Of_Video_Games.html

ALEXIS HAUK (2011) Letting them fly: A parent's most difficult job?
Dow Jones Local Media Group, Inc. © 2011.
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110812/LIFE/108120302/-1/ENTERTAIN

3 comments:

  1. Dear Nicholas,

    I disagree with the point you made in the last paragraph regarding computer games. I believe that most, not some, people say that computer games is a harmful vice, and this mindset is most common in the older generations. Why is this so? Computers have given us the accessibility of information and it is up to us to make the best use of this accessibility. The Internet exposes us to various vices, violence, cyber-bullying, and pornography, just to name a few. With the sea of information out there, we are often lost in this sea and are easily influenced by our peers and even strangers, given the anonymity the Internet gives us. We might gradually sink deeper into the sand without even being aware of it.

    However, I doI acknowledge that computer games do provide us with some skills which can be applicable to our daily life. For example, Tetris have been shown to increase brain efficiency and improve cognitive functions like “critical thinking, reasoning, language and processing,” though this is debatable. Although “many games are based on history, city building, and governance”, the skills we obtain through these games are not very applicable nor relevant in our society. These games often require just the clicking of the mouse, and an Utopian society is created. However, this is often not the case in real life.

    However, I do agree that computers have given us convenience and efficiency. In the past when there were no computers, the transmittance and accession of information was slow and inefficient, and communication between parties had to be done through letters, which could take months to deliver, or physical visits to another part of the world. Today, emails and social networking sites provide us with the convenience of communication.

    Regards,
    Ivan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Nicholas,

    I find your post rather interesting as it provides a different viewpoint on computer games than the traditional "all computer games are bad" viewpoint. I agree that the computer has benefits, even computer games - it is my belief that everything has a benefit, but at the same time, everything has a demerit. Even if one is not addicted to computer games, it can still be very distracting. Although some people cannot be really counted as addicted to computer games, yet, they are easily distracted by it - they have to stop work every fifteen minutes in order to play a certain game. I think that focus is an extremely important life skill, and although some people can focus on a game very well, they may not be able to do so when working.

    I also agree that the computer has brought about a new age of speed and efficiency. However, the computer also makes errors. And because humans trust computers much more, they tend to leave the computer to do more work, which means that if an error occurs, it would be of a much larger scale than human error. Therefore, I disagree that the mechanical precision of a computer much of the time is that great a benefit.

    Regards,
    Chong Kai En, 2i106

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is really powerful. Computers do change our lives and sometimes we want it more and more. On the other hand, there is much hidden about it. In case you are need of a research about it, you may go to https://special-essays.com/ and get the help there with 18% discount g6oa39rW. I like the way they work.

    ReplyDelete