The Deceptive God of Technology

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Derek Parker

ENG 110-998

Dr. Baumlin

16 September 2010

The Deceptive God of Technology

There are several gods that Postman believes fail. Postman describes the god of technology as

being something that we as humans cannot pull away from. We worship it in a sense. It works both for

us and against us. But, often times it can do as much harm as good. He gives some examples like the

combustion engine and the television. He believes that people should be aware of the consequences of

choosing these devices and this god of technology before we decide to let ourselves be completely

swallowed up by it.

It can be seen fairly easily that technology affects us both positively and negatively. A research

project was conducted a few years ago at the University of Missouri Columbia which tested how

violent video games altered the brains response to real life violence. The subjects with the most

experience playing violent games had a smaller and more delayed brain response to images of real life

violence. This isnt all that hard to believe because the U.S. Military has even used video games to try

and help prepare soldiers for war. In fact, the game Doom, which was first licensed by the U.S. Military,

was a game that the shooters of the Columbine Massacre played and prepared themselves with. Eric

Harris had actually customized his own version of the game to where there were two shooters and they

could shoot anybody, but could not be shot back at.

But how was the U.S. Military to know that some crazy psychopaths would use this game to do

evil? Their original intent was to use this game to help soldiers be prepared for war and to put them in

real life situations within a virtual world. My point is, technology is usuallycreated with good intentions


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in mind, but like most things, can be used for evil. These are just a few examples of how technology that

has to do with television can be detrimental, but its not all bad.

Television helps keep the American experiment alive today, which is something that Postman

would applaud rather than frown upon. If it werent for the television, American citizens would not be

able to stay informed about todays political issues. Critics such as Postman, however, can and probably

would argue that certain news channels are biased to a particular political party. This is very true I have

to agree. Fox News has been accused of being biased towards the Republican Party while CNN has been

accused of being biased to the Democratic Party. However, the majority of the news they present is still

very truthful. People can stay informed about who is running for what office, what political party they

belong to, the kind of experience they have, etc. These are all the things an American citizen should be

informed of in order to vote correctly. When we get out and vote, this helps keep the American

experiment alive. I bring this up because Postman criticizes the god of technology, but in reality it helps

keep alive some of his own personal beliefs and ideals. Technology is supposed to aid us in our daily

lives.

I agree with Postman when he says any problems the schools cannot solve without

computers, they cannot solve with them. The computer is definitely not an answer to our problems in

society. The computer should only be used to help us make things easier. For example, it is faster to type

a paper than it is to hand write one. It is also sometimes more convenient to email a teacher than it is to

call them. For one, it may be a security issue if teachers go around giving out their phone numbers.

Secondly, if a teacher is emailed a question he/she can respond to it whenever he/she has time to do so.

I dont believe computers were ever invented to try and fix problems within our society (Postman gives

the example of group interaction). I believe they were merely invented to provide us with an aid in our


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work and our research. It is true, however, that people have taken this to an extreme. This is not the

only technological advancement that has provided us with an even number of pros and cons.

Postman gives the combustion engine as another example. The combustion engine has given us

the gift of transportation, but at what costs? Is the deterioration of the ozone layer worth the

convenience of having a car? Are the deaths of thousands of soldiers and innocent citizens (both

American and Middle Eastern) worth the fuel it takes to maintain this convenient form of travel? As the

shortage of oil gets worse, the fight to control it will get worse as well. Even though we know how bad

automobile emissions are for the ozone layer and how these emissions are causing environmental

problems such as global warming, we cannot even imagine our lives without some sort of transportation

other than by foot. We have become so accustomed to hopping in our cars, on the bus, or in a plane,

that we dont know how to function without such things.

I believe this is where Postman says that the god of technology becomes dangerous. When we

begin to base our life around these things and we dont know what to do without them is when we truly

bow to this new god of technology. Theres no way to decide if this god of technology is more harmful

than good because at this time this god has not actually failed. Postman believes it will fail because he

believes the cons outweigh the pros, but I believe that there isnt enough evidence for either side to

decide whether or not the god of technology fails or rules.


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Works Cited

Postman, Neil. The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School. New York: Vintage, 1996.

Phillips, H. (2005, December 12).New Scientist. Retrieved September 14, 2010, from Violent video

games alter brain's response to violence : http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8449-violent-

video-games-alter-brains-response-to-violence.html

Shin, G. (2008, January 4). Video Games: A Cause of Violence and Aggression. Retrieved September 14,

2010, from Serendip: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723

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The Deceptive God of Technology