Prompt: When computers first appeared on the scene, it was thought the y would make us more productive in
providing goods and services, smarter and possibly happier. Skeptics claim that the opposite is true as
computers have proved disappointing in terms of productivity, and have made us less happy and more
stupid because information is not knowledge.
Which of these points of view do you agree with most? Support your argument with reasons and or
examples from your own experience and observations.
There is no doubt that the use of computers increase our productivity. A Computer can perform simple but repetitive tasks much faster than a human can. For example, Spreadsheet calculations, which is commonly needed in any workplace, may take days if done manually. Any modern computer can finish the same task within a fraction of a second.
Computers also make us smarter. While it is true that ease of access to information does not equal knowledge, it is hard to argue that they are not closely correlated. A computer can not only make learning faster, but also more fun. Some of the Youtube channels that use videos to teach elementary school materials for kids are lauded as huge success in terms of effectiveness. On a higher level, graduate students can quickly find relevant articles about their research topics from thousands of published journals and books. It is hard to imagine how tedious this process can be before computers.
However, it is hard to see the effect of computers on people's happiness, as happiness itself is something that we cannot objectively measure, at least for now. Computers bring people around the world closer, which is generally considered good. On the other side, people seem to have less time and are always attached to their jobs. This makes them more prone to stress.
To conclude, it is easy to see why people are smarter and more productive because of the introduction of computers. However, whether or not it makes us happier is still open for debate.
The issues are well argued. However, I think the ideas should be in different paragraph to be clearer, i.e the first paragraph can be divided in to production part and computers make people more productive.
