If your average young adult were to be asked what they cannot leave the home without, most likely the answer would be their cell phone, ipad, or maybe even their computer. As time has progressed and technologies improved, young adults across the world have become more and more reliant on their technologies as they are able to do more and more for us as people. And what used to be a reliance on the technologies has become an addiction to apps such as snapchat, Instagram and twitter, that all can be accessed right from the handheld smartphone or ipad, having negative affects on the brain. Which then negatively affects the ways in which humans perform everyday tasks, whether it be in the classroom, on the road, or spending time with our families. 

Being a young adult I have fallen into the trap of technology. I too am on my phone almost constantly and rely on it to answer simple questions on Google that I maybe should already know myself. My favorite apps are snapchat and Instagram. I realize the addiction yet I struggle to make a change to my habits. Maybe, seeing how scientifically my brain is effected by my absurd cell phone usage and then seeing how it translates into my everyday life and possibly negatively affecting my schoolwork, I will want to make a change, which is why I have chosen this research topic. I have experienced dinners with my family where few words were exchanged and everyone's heads in their hands on their phones and that is definitely something that should change. I have glanced down at my phone while driving, which clearly is a danger to others. I am interested in this topic because I can finally find out why I can never put my phone down. My arguments are valid and strong seeing as I am experiencing the very addiction I am arguing for and I actually will know what I am talking about as compared to someone who may be older that has not grown up around all the dependence on technology like I have. 

Concerning dependency on technology, Cris Rowan found that the use of technology is negatively affecting family life and stripping away the core values that families strived to upkeep at an earlier point in time. In his essay "The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child" he explains how families are no longer going outside to play together and sitting down for family meals. Children and parents alike are glued to a computer screen causing over development in some areas of the brain along with underdevelopment in others. Rowan scientifically backs up his claims with several studies conducted by several known (ethos), credible scientists. Making his argument strong. He uses pathos by bringing in sob stories of a family being destroyed because of its overuse of technology.  

Another by the name of Matt Ritchel, studied how our use of technology affects the brain when multitasking. In his work "Hooked on Technology, and Paying a Price" he argues that there is no longer such a thing as multitasking. Those who claim that they are multitaskers actually struggle to focus more. And in a classroom or learning environment, multitaskers struggle to filter out irrelevant information and struggles to digest what is actually important. Being the winner of a Pulitzer prize for one of his works on the concept of multitasking, Ritchel is credible enough himself, although he too includes several studies to back up his arguments (borrow ethos). 

Lastly, in Ian Leslie's "Google Is Making Us All Dumber: The Neuroscience of Search Engines", Leslie argues, with scientific and factual evidence that Google in fact only makes us dumber. This is due to the fact that students are no longer wondering anymore. And the only way we learn is if we seek out information and have the desire to obtain it. He argues that it is necessary to keep the gap between question and answer. He concludes by saying computers are useless without wondering humans. 

Despite the clear evidence of how technology is addictive and negatively effects the development of one's brain, one could argue that technology has only helped society advance and that this new addictive way is the new norm in society. We now have the world at our fingertips with search engines, like Google, there to give us every answer we so desire. Technology has helped with advancements in medicine, saving peoples lives who may not have been saved years earlier. Athletes have continued to grow stronger and faster with new sports technology. But these technologies are circumstantial. Technology has taken over our everyday lives and that was not the intention of these creations. Yes, they were made to make our lives easier, but our lives have become too easy and our brains too reliant on these technologies. As seen within the three sources above. All agree that the development of our technologies are ruining our lives. Whether it be struggling to "multitask", obtain information, or sit through a family dinner. All have become difficult for the modern day human because technology has intervened. 

Because of said intervention, technology has become such a huge part of who we are. Certain aspects of our lives have declined in quality. Learning is no longer the same and children cannot focus in a classroom setting. Family life has been altered for the worse seeing as there are more means of technology than people at the dinner table. And somehow, technology that was supposed to make us smarter is doing just the opposite, because we no longer have the desire to obtain new information because the information is too readily available. Some may argue that technology has done so much for us as a society. That may be true, but when it comes down to it, our lives will no longer be the same due to technology, in the worst possible ways. 

