This I believe statement

In her "This I Believe" statement, Natalie Russo expresses her strong belief in the positive impact of technology on our lives. She emphasizes the importance of ethical implementation, connection, and environmental sustainability. Natalie shares personal experiences that shaped her views on technology, including the addictive nature of social media and the power of technology to connect her grandmother with loved ones. She highlights the need for political approaches such as participatory democracy, international collaboration, and corporate accountability to ensure responsible technology creation and use. Natalie also believes that advancements in renewable energy technology, specifically solar power, can contribute to a non-dystopian future and create a better life for all. Hello, my name is Natalie Russo, and this is my This I Believe statement. In today's fast-changing world, I strongly believe that technology can greatly improve our lives and help us achieve what Aristotle called the good life. Through innovation and ethical implementation, technology can empower individuals, foster meaningful connections, and drive societal progress. In this talk, we will delve into my three core values and ethical considerations, two personal experiences that shaped my view of technology, political considerations that will foster responsible technology creation, and one particular technology that I believe will create the good life. The three core values that I prioritize are ethics, connection, and the environment. Ethics means upholding ethical principles including honesty, transparency, and accountability in development and the use of technology is paramount. This entails being forthright about potential risks and consequences and striving for fairness and justice in its application. Ethics related to this is virtue ethics, which is the quest to understand and live a life of moral character. It is crucial to use technology for the right reasons and develop technology that is a benefit for humankind. My second core value, connection, means fostering genuine connections and meaningful interactions through technology is essential. This involves promoting inclusivity, empathy, and understanding in digital spaces, enhancing relationships and community engagement. Technology is meant to bring people together and should be used to connect with long-distance friends and family to have a space that creates hate and promotes injustice. My third and last core value is the environment. Technology should be designed and utilized in a manner that respects the planet's finite resources and ecological values. Prioritizing sustainability involves minimizing waste, energy consumption, and environmental harm throughout the lifestyle of technological products and services. This core value relates to consequentialism, since it is based on the results of an action. If we invest in the environment, it will benefit us all, which means the ends justify the means. I agree with Ken Stanley Robinson that nonviolent resistance and legislative change is the best way to combat our environment issue. Robinson states in his podcast, B, it doesn't work because when you break things, you have to rebuild them. We only have eight years before we're tasked to a course that will be very hard to claw back from. This shows how significantly our environment could affect us, and this is why I chose it as a core value. Two personal experiences that exemplify how my beliefs about tech formed. It is my first one. It has significantly shaped my beliefs about technology. It dates back to when I began using it in middle school. Naively, I joined all the social media platforms and relied heavily on them to make friends. By the age of 12, I had become dependent on technology without even realizing it. I found myself hiding my phone under the desk during class, sneaking off to the bathroom just to check my messages, highlighting my growing addiction. This experience directly relates to the documentary we watched in this class, Social Dilemma. Former engineers, executives, and employees from social media companies discussed the deliberate manipulation involved in developing their algorithms. A particularly striking quote from the documentary is the very meaning of communication and culture is manipulation. We are put to seat and seek sneakiness in the absolute center of everything we do. This resonated deeply with me as it mirrored my own experience of being unwittingly manipulated by technology during my adolescence. Throughout my teenage years and as I took steps to educate myself about the implications of technology, I became acutely aware of its addictive nature. I learned to take a step back and critically evaluate my technology use. In middle school, my primary intention was to fit in and connect with others, assuming that expensive phone use was the norm. However, I realized that relying on technology to form friendships can be dangerous. This is why one of my core values is connection. I believe that technology, when used responsibly, can foster meaningful relationships and keep us connected with friends and family. Emphasizing genuine connections and understanding the ethical implications of technology use has been essential to my approach to technology, reflecting my commitment to ethics and responsible usage. Another pivotal experience that shaped my beliefs about technology occurred when I helped my grandma connect to the digital world. My grandmother had always been somewhat wary of technology. However, as her mobility decreased, staying connected with family and friends became more challenging. I saw an opportunity to help her bridge this gap with technology. I started by introducing her to a tablet, patiently showing her how to use video call apps to stay in touch with her children and grandchildren. Gradually, she began to see the tablet not as a daunting device, but as a gateway to her loved ones. She marveled at being able to see her grandchildren's faces in real time and joined family gatherings virtually. This experience taught me several valuable lessons. One, ethics. Ensuring that my grandmother's privacy and security were protected was paramount. I set up the device with strong passwords and explained the importance of being cautious of personal information online, reinforcing the need for ethical standards in technology use. Two, connection. Missing my grandma's joy in reconnecting with distant family members underscored the power of technology to foster meaningful relationships. I believe that politics grounded in transparency, inclusivity, and accountability are essential for fostering responsible technology creation and use. Here are the key political approaches that I believe can drive this forward. One, participatory democracy. Encouraging broad public engagement in the decision-making process related to technology development implementation. This includes ensuring that diverse voices, especially those in marginalized communities, are heard and considered. In Landon Winner's article about technology power and authority, he states, life contains possibilities for many different ways of ordering human activity. Consciously or not, deliberately or inadvertently, societies choose structures for technology that influence how people are going to work, communicate, travel, consume, and so forth for over a very long time. This shows how technology, if it is purposeful or not, impacts how society functions and people interact, which affects public order. Two, international collaboration. Promoting international cooperation in the creation of global standards for technology. Given that technology transcends national borders, collaborative efforts are essential for addressing issues like cybercrime, digital rights, and environmental impacts. International bodies can help establish norms and agreements that promote responsible technology use globally. Here's a quote from the Center of Human Technology reading that sums up the political goal. A future where technology helps us align all our actions with our intentions, enabling us to be more free, focused, patient, and secure as we solve tough problems together. The third political component I will talk about is corporate accountability. Enforcing policies that hold companies accountable for unethical practices. This involves stringent penalties for breaches of ethical standards, such as data misuse or environmental harm, encouraging corporate transparency through mandatory reporting on social and environmental impacts. One particular technology that I believe can help create the good life in a non-dystopian future is renewable energy technology, specifically advancements in solar power. Solar energy harnesses the power of the sun to generate electricity, offering a sustainable and environmental-friendly alternative to fossil fuels. After watching the film WALL-E, I learned more about environmental conservation and the consequences of consumerism and neglect. It portrays a future where Earth is overrun by waste, prompting viewers to reflect on the impact of their planet and the importance of sustainability. A quote from WALL-E that encapsulates the environment's message of the movie is from the character Captain Macrea when he realizes the state of the Earth and the importance of taking action. I don't want to survive, I want to live. This quote highlights the shift from near survival to a desire for a thriving, sustainable life and underscoring the importance of taking responsibility for the planet's health. Also, advancement in solar power has the power to create a ripple effect in our society. The Consulensis Project stated, when one technology advances, it brings along with it many others, while making possible and sometimes necessary new technologies. In order to create the good life, we need to make choices in the present with the long-due humanity in mind. Investing in our environment will only help our future. Thank you.