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Technology In Henry David Thoreau's Walden

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With the technological advances that this world is making it supports the materialistic views of the people of this world. Things like TV and the internet have come far since they were first created. People can get news and other things in less than a minute, and it is right at the fingertips. Things have changed drastically since Henry David Thoreau has written Walden. Thoreau proved a point by going and staying in the woods by himself for two years. Technology could quite possibly be thing that ruins us as a society. Technology is a dangerous thing and represents our materialistic values because it is distracting, it makes us grow farther apart, and it runs people’s lives. Technology is the most distracting things in people’s lives today. The reason Thoreau does the Walden pond project is to show that without the distractions of everyday life he lives so much more peaceful. He did not have to worry about going to work for someone else or any of the routines that people of everyday life have to put up with. The more technology advances the more we get distracted from the things that are happening around us. The world has bigger problems than the next IPhone or whatever …show more content…

If you surveyed 20 teenagers 18 or 19 of them would say they could not live without their phone daily. If their was a nationwide cell service outage that happened right at this very minute most people would lose their minds, everyone is guilty of this. The first thing that people ask when they go to someone’s house is “Hey do you guys have WIFI” this is pretty crazy. Most of our daily conversations are over the phone too, while sitting at home and mom is in the other room some teenagers are too lazy to get up and go ask her the question. Instead they send her a text asking her. It is getting to where it is becoming a major problem. People of today crave materialistic things too much to drop their everyday lives and do what Thoreau

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285 Words | 2 Pages

Thoreau’s ideas and Technology can co-exist if he were to move to Walden today because back then he would of not used technology like he would today in the first text he said “ I went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it what it had to teach, and not, when i had to die, discover that i had not lived.” He went to the woods to see what he was messing out on to see what is in front of him and not stay inside on Technology he wanted to learn from what came to him not on the internet. Thoreau also said “The advent of the railroads had destroyed the old scale old distances so now books can travel further and more safer.now he has the ability to get

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805 Words | 4 Pages

This goes back to the main idea that too much technology can be bad for

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Technology can represent true obstacles in life, but they bring more benefits than they do harm. Thoreau considered that the ownership of many material possessions was not a basic necessity of life. Of course, this is true, one cannot possibly need technology or material possessions to live, right? Think deeper into this issue, technology is not used solely for entertainment. What about medical respirators and heart-lung machines, these are all examples of technology, but can result in the difference between life and death.

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Without distractions such as technology, we are finally able to see the world through fresh eyes, especially in nature. Henry James Thoreau had the right idea when he decided to isolate himself in the middle of the woods, in a cabin he built and called “Walden”. For two years, he lived free from society’s harsh ways and journaled his entire experience, which was later turned into the famous book, “Walden”. Thoreau had many strong opinions about society and how it works in terrible ways. He believed that living a simple, yet self-sufficient, life was a key factor in living a happy life.

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538 Words | 3 Pages

Henry David Thoreau was a renowned author and philosopher of the 1800’s who believed that people who have materialistic values reveal a lack of spiritual self-reliance. In today’s world, people depend on mostly technology and other materialistic things. Technology is how many people communicate, secure their finances, and even work. Times have evolved and Thoreau’s belief is no longer one that can be supported one hundred percent. However, Thoreau’s idea is partially appropriate when describing those who depend upon technology for almost everything.

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In Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Thoreau talks about his opinions on communications technology at the time and how he does not believe that it is good for people. Throughout the entire reading Thoreau talks about how people need to keep simple and how communications technologies are no exception to him. However, communications technologies of the times were steps forward in connecting people in ways that would not be possible otherwise. Thoreau talks about how he believes communications technology such as the post office and newspaper are unimportant and unmemorable. He believes that if we read of one unfortunate thing in a newspaper or letter then we do not ever need to read another ever, that news is just boring gossip and there is nothing

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Essay… For two years Thoreau wrote about how he lived in the woods with no internet connections he was just fine all by himself; also Heitman wrote about how if Thoreau had connections to the internet he may of had an easier and more simple life for those two years. Due to Heitman writing a claim about how Thoreau’s ideas and technology actually can co-exist, maybe they actually can. Maybe it would not be so bad if Thoreau had some connections to the world while he was in Walden.

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The Impact of Technology The rapid chugging sound that rushed through the dark, silent night, rattling the rickety tracks, was the result of hundreds of deaths. This railroad, constructed during the Industrial Revolution, is exemplified in Thoreau’s excerpt Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, from Walden, and is used to portray how technological advancement is hindering rather than helping human progress from its current state. As a transcendentalist who is against the indulgence of material wealth, Thoreau disapproved of consumer good developments. Additionally, the industrial movement generated opportunities for greedy contractors to commence cheap labor and poor working conditions.

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When we go through our lives we sometimes are in too much of a hurry to do the things we need to accomplish. Sometimes we make it more complicated than it needs to be by adding technology and not slowing down to appreciate the greater things in life such as nature. If you look around while in public sometime you will notice how many people are just sitting there on their phones or other technology. The tech epidemic of the world has gotten so bad that there are even televisions in the gas pumps at most gas stations. Henry David Thoreau is most likely rolling in his grave right now because of this.

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In Walden, written by Henry David Thoreau, the author expresses the immense longing that we, as human beings, need to give up our connection to our ever-growing materialism in order to revert back to self-sufficient happiness. In Walden, the reader is able to infer that Thoreau feels as if we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions, as well as believes that the study of nature should replace and oppose our enslavement, and that we are to “open new channels of thought” by turning our eyes inward and studying ourselves. Thoreau feels that we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions. As stated in the chapter “In the Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”, Thoreau states that “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” (972).

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759 Words | 4 Pages

The cell phone is a drug to the teenage generation. A cell phone goes off in the middle of a lesson and causes the student to take his or her attention off the lesson and on to the text message he or she just received. A conversation starts between two students in different seating 's, different classrooms or even different schools. In a different scenario a student makes a group chat with multiple other students to discuss answers on an assignment. These are the two of the many reasons why phones should be banned for the teenage generation.

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This is how technology has affected our lives. Coming to one example. When any of our loved one or anyone we know closely passes away we straight away take our phones and open facebook and update our

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Cell Phones Have you ever wondered why your parents would not get you a phone?. In Today’s technologically advanced world, it is pretty common that you have at least one or two connections between technology. However, most parents disagree assuming that technology is hurting the teen’s Childhood. Nevertheless, having a cell phone is a necessity in today’s modernized world. Some of the reasons are practicality, GPS tracking for parents to know where their kids are, and safety.

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1254 Words | 6 Pages

Cell Phones: The average teenager who gets on their phone, just for a second, each hour has the same mind as a 30 year old cocaine addict. Teens have their minds tricked into thinking they can’t live without their cell phones and social media. Teens need to be able to talk to and connect with others and learn face-to-face communication skills. Nowadays teens can get harmed very easily, and teens do not really know who is on the other side of the screen. Studies have shown that phones can ruin lives with the blink of an eye.

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Sometimes the phone is people friend or spouse because that’s all people depends on. They depend on a text or a call even a message on Facebook. I wish people would understand that their phone does not have to endure in their hand every second. Periodically adults and children need to give their phone a break because it can mess up fun time with, also it can make your spouse feel some type of way, and make your child feel like their parent has no time for them.

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