Request for GRE Issue Essay Evaluation

[sdfiguer]

Hello everyone! I am currently studying for the GRE through Magoosh and I just wrote my second times Issue Essay for my first practice test. Any critiques/score estimates would be well appreciated! I will of course return the favor my critiquing an essays you are working on.  Thanks.

Technology, while apparently aimed to simplify our lives, only makes our lives more complicated.

 

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Technological advances tend to silently accumulate over time. A mere fifty years ago, present-day technologies did not exist. Smart phones, reader tablets, smart cars, iphones, fit-bit watches, etc. Today many citizens in first-world countries have access to all of the aforementioned types of techonology. Those with a smart phone in their pocket, a tablet in their bag, and a laptop under their arm, would be hesitant to classify their lives as "complicated".

 

Advances in technology may seem to complicate our lives by adding further information into our lives; however, technological advances are meant to contribute an elegance and efficiency to human life. This has been the way of human advancement since the beginning of our history. Prior to the invention of the wheel, humans were forced to force plows through soil and a painfully slow pace. After a new technological advance, farming became far more efficient. Moving forward a few thousand years, the invention of the calculator improved the efficiency and accuracy of countless fields: mathematics, science, medicine, business, etc.

 

Technology has been at the forefront of our lives since the beginning of our history. Humans are meant to create technology and constantly improve the technology that already exists. Although the mass reliance on several devices may seem complicated, new technologies have only improved the efficiency of our lives and, if anything, allow for a simplification of tasks that were once seemingly impossible. For example, navigating through a metropolitan area with the support of a foldable map allows massive room for error--one could become hopelessly lost within minutes. On the other hand, with support from a smart phone, losing one's bearings is nearly a subject of history.

 

Even so, it can be argued that many have become too reliant on recent technological advances. Their lives become overly complicated when they do not have access to their devices, such as when wi-fi is unavailable or when power shuts off for the entire day. It must be considered that technology has the possibility to interfere with every-day reasoning skills. If one finds that a lack of technology significantly impacts their well-being and ability to function with moderate efficiency, then such technology has only complicated their life.

People with a range of intelligence levels are able to accomplish far more in twenty-four hours with technology now compared to fifty years ago. Even people in third-world countries are beginning to access devices that will improve their agriculture, businesses, hospitals, and overall communication. The fact that technology has the potential to complicate lives should be considered; however, the evidence that technology simplifies lives by improving efficiency is compelling.