Through the mind of a Neo-Luddite

Neo-Luddite criticisms of technology and counterarguments

• Computers cause massive unemployment and de-skilling of jobs.

Computers have indeed created new jobs and increased employment for both low and high skilled workers. Computer usage around the word has proliferated giving rise to jobs such as data entry clerks, programmers, web developers and repair technicians that never existed prior to the introduction of computers.  Furthermore employees are able to accomplish more through the use of computers and productivity levels have increased and can be more easily monitored.

• Computers cause social disintegration; they are dehumanizing. They weaken communities and lead to isolation of people from each other.

The introduction of computers has changed the way people communicate. They are a myriad of ways that communication can be accessed from text, instant messaging, voice and video calls.  The technology is not to be blamed for disintegration or any of the other claims posed.  Rather the individuals who access the technology must take much responsibility as they interact with it. Technology’s contribution to communication in fact is a significant one.  As we go through this global pandemic where business are ordered closed, and the movement of people from place to place is curtailed.  Families and communities at large are on strict stay home orders and are not allowed to visit each other as they normally would.  Here technology has created a means for people to comfortably contact the people they love and check in on them without doing so physically and risking possible exposure to the virus.  Equally important technology facilitates countries by being able to track the level of exposure in other parts of the world.

• Use of computers in schools thwarts development of social skills, human values, and intellectual skills in children.

Contrary to the Neo-Luddite’s thinking computers (Doyle, 2014) confirms that children and adults alike who find it difficult to develop and maintain friendship can benefit from social learning aided by a computer. Software and videos are used to aid children in identifying and expressing their emotions, which helps them to integrate more smoothly in the real world. In the development of intellectual skills (Mayer et al., n.d.) noted an equally significant point confirming the appropriate experience with educational technology can promote important cognitive changes in children, including improvements in content knowledge about computing, strategies for comprehending written instructions, strategies for devising problem-solving plans, and even in basic academic skills.

Doyle M, 2014  Learning Social Skills with Computers retrieved from: https://www.brightpips.com/learning-social-skills-with-computers/