Martin Heidegger: The Question Concerning Technology

            Martin Heidegger’s first chapter of his book titled The Question Concerning Technology begins to explore what technology is and how it can be appropriately defined (and what those definitions mean).  I must admit I found this reading to be a bit confusing.

            He starts off by explaining that there are two different definitions of the technology, both of which are very different from one another, but both arguable correct.  He starts off by saying that “technology is not equivalent of the essence of technology.” (Heidegger 1)  The two definitions that were discussed are that technology is a human activity, and that technology is a means to an end.   He delves a bit into how both of these characterizations can apply to both older and newer technologies.  I think this is an especially important aspect to look at today seeing as technology is constantly changing and far more advanced than at the time in which Heidegger wrote this.

            Later on in the chapter, Heidegger introduced the idea that there is/could be negative consequences of technology, and that technology may become so advanced that it could surpass our ability to fully control it or how it is used.

            For me, I took these ideas and tried to apply it to something like social media.  Social media can be both a means to an end and a human activity in itself.  When trying to look at the negative aspect of technology getting out of control not in the sense that it will physically be out of our control or controlling us, but more in the psychological sense.    Social media can be extraordinarily beneficial to society, and can be a fun way to waist time, and I would argue perfectly harmless to the majority of our society.  However, there are people who can get overly attached and even addicted to social media and the Internet in general.  In these cases, social media (or what ever technology may be applicable in individual situations) is controlling its user, because they are no longer thinking about the world happening directly around them, and only the world that lives on their social media profiles.  As I mentioned before, this is not the case for all, and I would say this is not the case for the vast majority of people.   I think most people can enjoy social media and the internet for entertainment and use it critically for important information without letting it run their lives, but it is still important to recognize the influence that it is able to have.