I have decided to write my final paper about Postman's Technopoly. "Are modern-day college campuses technopolies?" This question to me is very intriguing, and seems like a very relevant issue in today's culture. In places where America's leaders are being formed and are preparing to enter the "real world", which college campuses are, wondering aloud about the effects that technology has on them is important to do. What I'd like to think is that a Technopoly is not something that actually exists, and is more just a misguided theory than a real issue, but the issues raised are pertinent.
The reality is that today’s college student relies very heavily on technology. Students email professors more often than they visit them in office hours. Grades, syllabi, and even dining hall menus are all available online. Students need only a few clicks to find if school is having a snow day, or when the next campus bus is coming. At Rutgers, the only practical way to register for classes is online. Many professors do not even ask for physical copies of essays anymore; they ask only for electronic submissions. And this doesn’t even take into account how often technology is used for social and entertainment purposes.
Postman argues that this heavy use of technology is ruining our culture, eliminating our identity and sending our culture into a dangerous downward spiral. It is an interesting prospect, but one that I’m not quite ready to accept. Struggles between the practicality and morality of technology have existed since the dawn of man, and are not new to this age. However, if anything, this immersion in technology is building our culture, making access to the rest of the world easier than ever. If it is true that our culture is being destroyed by technology, it is only because we are using it to create a vaster, global culture which everyone on Earth is a part of.
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