Technology and It’s Advancement

I just recently wrote a research paper on a specific technological advancement making way into our lives. Everybody has a phone these days, so everyone has probably noticed the effect “Night Shift” on their phones. Well, it is an effect that takes the blue light out of the brightness on a phone, and transforms it into an amber color. Apparently, this amber color is WAY better for our eyes than the blue light. Studies have shown that the blue light is extraordinarily harsh to our eyes and can actually be very detrimental to our health in the long run. The blue light has the potential to give us different types of cancers, such as breast and prostate. This blue light also has the potential of depriving us of the sleep we so greatly need and making us more prone to depression. It can also make us stay up way later than we actually should and can really hurt our learning experiences the next day. This blue light tricks our bodies into thinking it is still day time, when in reality we are actually laying in our beds trying to fall asleep but can’t get off our phones. So, is it getting healthier for us to be addicted to our phones? That is what the new “Night Shift” effect is trying to tell us. There are many advantages to this new effect and only one disadvantage which is that it will only allow us to be on our phones more than we already are. Instead of being on our phones 24/7, we should at least step outside for SOME fresh air. I got my inspiration for this research paper from one of the readings we read in class by Neil Postman and his article “Five Things We Need To Know About Technological Change”. He expresses five ideas throughout the entirety of the article, but the first idea is the one that really grabbed my attention. In his article his writes, “for every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage. The disadvantage may exceed in importance the advantage, or the advantage may well be worth the cost”. This quote goes along perfectly with my research topic on “Night Shift” because it offers so many benefits to our society, but everything always comes with some disadvantages whether we like it or not.