|
|
|
|
|
Computer Addiction
|
|
Computer addiction
is an obsessive addiction to computer use sometimes known as
Dependency
.
Computers now handle many tasks once performed by people. When everything works right, and the automatic teller machine gives us our money or the voice-activated phone operator has the correct number, we don't really notice. But on days when the machine goes haywire...we realize
how dependent we have become on computer technology
...and
the result can be anger and frustration
.
|
Win Philips DVD Player NOW !!!
|
Gene Rochlin is a professor at the University of California-Berkley who writes about computer dependence. He says there are no signs that computers are somehow "taking over," as science fiction once suggested. Instead, we are being asked to change our behavior to accommodate the limits of computer systems. For example, a local telephone operator or human bank teller often could resolve problems on the spot. But now, with ATMs and phone banks, problems can be addressed only in ways that computer networks permit.
Rochlin says relying on
computers may cause us to lose key skills
-- perhaps you've noticed that you use "spellcheck" rather than open a dictionary. On a more serious note, airline pilots trained on simulators may be better prepared to face common problems. But they may be less skilled in coping with emergencies that the simulator left out.
our reliance on computer networks creates something of a paradox...
when things work well, computers can give us more flexibility. But when problems arise, they may be harder to solve.
|
Win Philips DVD Player NOW !!!
|
A
variation of computer addiction
is the proposed Internet addiction disorder, which suggests that people can not only be addicted to an object, such as a computer, but also an environment, i.e. the Internet.
|
|
Cyberpill
|
Young likens Internet addiction to any other form of addiction: It becomes a problem when it interferes with other parts of peoples' lives, such as sleep, work, socializing and exercise.
Some of these people even forget to eat
The Internet can be a healthy, helpful tool when used to find information or to communicate with friends, co-workers and professors, she said. But people become dependent on it when they use it mainly to fill their time, and may even lose the ability to control that use.
Substitute the word 'computer' for 'substance' or 'alcohol,' and you find that Internet obsession fits the classic 'Diagnostic Statistical Manual' definition of addiction
|
Win Philips DVD Player NOW !!!
|
|
Plug-in buddy
|
Another danger of incessant online surfing, is that
Internet social interactions can start to replace real social relationships.
Although some educators argue that television or reading also cut into peoples' social lives, Scherer claims the Internet is more addictive because it offers interaction with other people that ostensibly fills a social void. Stories abound about Internet addicts who lose mates, families and friends, and about students who would rather ask strangers for dates over e-mail than approach them in person.
Students visiting chat rooms or playing MUD games can assume new, glamorous identities. Some start to believe that they're loved and cared for in their new identities-'an illusion that these online relationships are the same as the real thing'.
Online you have the freedom to talk to anyone, be anything you want and not be censored for it. It's a sort of unconditional acceptance unusual in flesh-and-blood relationships that makes you less used to dealing with real life.
|
Win Philips DVD Player NOW !!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|