Some would argue that the surge in technological advances our world has seen in the last 20 years has made people far more isolated, lazy and depraved. Sure, technology might not have helped with any of these character flaws, but people will be as isolated, lazy and depraved as they want to be, Wi-Fi or not.

Technology is much more useful to society than it is damaging. For one, it allows us to communicate to almost anyone we want — and a few we probably don’t — almost instantly. My cell phone might go off every 10 minutes, making me want to throw it through a window sometimes, but I certainly don’t know what I would do without it. And social networking sites, such as Facebook, make keeping in touch with everyone almost second nature.

Our country is seeing a state of safety that has never been achieved in history. Things that would have taken our military hundreds of men and a few probable deaths to do, can now be done by one man on a computer. Criminals and terrorists are becoming much more tech savvy; our country has no choice but to stay 10 steps ahead of all of them. That’s how we’ve always done it, and that’s how we’re always going to do it. As far as it directly concerns me, I’m not a fan of the Patriot Act and other “Big Brother” laws. But in the end, if it keeps us safe, I guess I’m willing to give up a few of my freedoms.

Although people are eating worse and worse food, we are living longer and longer. This can almost entirely be attributed to the increase in medical technology. This is a field that, short of cloning humans, should be allowed to grow as large and as fast as it can. I sleep easy at night knowing there are very few diseases and disorders that my family and I could get that couldn’t be treated in some manner.

Technology does make it increasingly more difficult to fly under the radar these days. So I understand how sex offenders and drug-smuggling, illegal aliens could be a little put off by this fact. But there are plenty of caves in the Middle East that they can all go live in if they don’t mind giving up their high-speed internet and Dish Network. I personally don’t have a lot to hide nowadays, so I don’t mind being noticed a little. It helps to hold me accountable, knowing that anything I post online can be read by almost everyone in my family.

As a computer-literate person under the age of 30, I find that technology has given me a leg up in the job market. Most of our parents didn’t have the luxury of learning Windows and Mac software in school. We’re out there snagging cool jobs while lots of older generations are trying to go back to school to catch up. There still are plenty of labor-intensive jobs out there that don’t require much computer knowledge at all. I’d rather do something a little more mentally challenging for work, though.

Finally, I believe that almost every form of media has positively benefited from modern technology. We can do way more interesting things with music and movies than ever, and we can enjoy all the classics in many forms, too. The literary world isn’t dying; it’s simply changing to meet the times. You can still go out and pick up a newspaper if you want, but now you can also get that same paper on your laptop, cell phone and PDA, too.

Technology has given us the means to make anything we love live on much longer. I love the fact that I live in a time where almost any information I want is right at my fingertips. And that my opinion can be shared with everyone just as theirs can be shared with me. As long as our country, our culture and our people can keep up with this changing world, I see only positive benefits from modern technology. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.