<p>This is a response for one of the prompts of may 2008. I need specifically 3 things to be evaluated, apart from grammar:
1-Vocabulary. My first language is not english, so i feel that the words i used are too simple, the same for the sentences structure.
2-Examples. If i do not come up with a good example in less than 30 seconds, i try to invent something believable. Does this Interamerican Institute for Education sounds credible?
3-Topic. I’m not sure wether my answer is on topic, or i wrote a lot of nonsense.</p>
<p>So here it is:</p>
<p>Technological advances have freed society from tiresome labor, such as washing clothes by hand, hauling heavy loads, and walking long distances, and have given people increased access to information and entertainment. Yet, when given a choice, many people still resist using modern conveniences. There must be something to be gained from not using technology.</p>
<p>Are there benefits to be gained from avoiding the use of modern technology, even when using it would make life easier?</p>
<p>ESSAY</p>
<pre><code>Do technological advances really free us from dull work, or are they instead gradually mitigating our most elementary skills? Nowadays, we rely on technology for many of the basic tasks we used to perform by our own in the past. This dependence has stunted people’s abilities, not only physical ones, but also those which imply a mental effort, what leads us to the question: What would happen if suddenly we are taken away any electronic device?
This is what a recent study from the Interamerican Institute for Education I.I.E. tried to clarify. They gather 60 teens and divided them into 2 groups in different rooms. Then the participants were given a test containing 20 math questions. However, only a group was permitted to use calculators. The results were beyond the initial assumptions: In the group with calculators, 13 out of 30 solved all the problems correctly, whereas in the second group only 2 boys managed to do at least 18 questions right. That means, no one there was able to do every problem properly! The experiment arrived to the conclusion that technology has damaged our math skills during the past decades, since all the problems had been taken from a book used in 1966 for 8th grade – And the teens were between 15 and 18 years old.
In addition, this investigation carried out by the I.I.E. demonstrated how detrimental can be a device actually developed for making life easier. In spite of helping us with daily tasks, the calculator has damaged our most basic math knowledge. The same goes for many of the other technological advances. If we lack of this skill, we’re unable to solve the many problems we face daily, and therefore more likely to get into trouble. All this analysis does not mean that we should go back to caveman era. Instead, we must learn to use technology wisely, taking care of its counter-effects.
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