Technologies vs. Society: Comparative essay on E.B White's essay "Once More to the Lake"

Today modern philosophers are concerned with the growing use of technology. The speed at which it evolves has surpassed the rate at which people can master it; therefore, every few years a new generation arises with a different perception of the world. This disrupts the mutual understanding between generations, and interferes with the harmonious development of civilization. It also contributes to the moral deformation of society.

Technological and cultural progress is one of main topics in E.B White's article "Once More to the Lake". The story describes a trip to a camp on the lake. The father takes along his son to a place where he used to go as a child. He often gets confused when he looks at his son; as he was in his son's body. He gets a feeling that he is sometimes his son who is fishing and boating, and he is sometimes his father.

An 1890s advertisement showing model Hilda Clark i...

English: Mobile phone evolution Русский: Э...

English: A cell phone tower in Palatine, Illinois,...

He struggles with a memories of his idyll childhood and compares his son's action to his own behavior years before. The father's negativism towards new technology is illustrated in his disapproval of changes in the camp. For example "The only thing that was wrong, really, was the sound of place, an unfamiliar nervous sound of the outboard motors" [Or] "Nowadays you sneaked up in your car and parked under a tree camp and took out the bags in five minutes"

I also interviewed my parents to determine whether the difference between our generations was influenced by technological progress. My father told me that when he was growing up their family only had a radio. He said " To entertain ourselves we played outside and made our own toys. Our parents got together every weekend to talk, eat and sing. Now kids are playing Play station and their...