Emily+Choi+RP+Post+1

For my essay, I'm leaning towards either the narrative nonfiction or the position paper, depending on which topic I ultimately go with. The narrative nonfiction is much trickier, however, and I'm not sure how exactly I would pull it off with the research questions that I'm interested in. While a narrative nonfiction has the potential to be interesting and gripping in both a storytelling and factual way, it requires the integration of facts into a storyworld, which could prove extremely challenging, depending on my topic. On the flipside, a position paper is much more generic and expected of these charged, argumentative research questions, and is probably the default approach to this kind of task.

Some research questions I've been humoring:
 * Is the highly negative perception of Generation Y justified, or is it simply typical hatred of young people?
 * **Will technology truly cause the downfall of first-world societies?**

In terms of the question I've bolded, I understand that it's an extremely broad topic. There's many different types of technology, from the technology that makes clean water to the technology that allows me to type this response right now. There's no doubt, however, that technology has led to great cultural shifts in first-world societies that can be readily observed at any moment. Whether it's a pretentious adult complaining about the "selfie generation" or a moviegoer complaining about the blatantly subpar special effects in the latest //Gatsby// movie, the subject of technology and its effect on our lives is certainly a highly controversial one. Type "technology n..." into the Google search bar, and the last option in the list of predictions is "technology negative effects", as if anything new must come with severe consequences. Every news site has at least a hundred articles about the dangers of exposing children to the evils of technology, from [|Huffington Post] to [|Global Post].

I find myself highly invested in the topic of technology and its cultural impacts, from not only a Western standpoint, but also an Eastern one. People often forget that there are other economically developed countries besides the ones in North America and Europe. In Japan, technology has had fascinating effects, and has been pointed to as one of many causes behind the negative population growth among the Japanese. In terms of me personally, as you could probably tell from my questions above, I'm most particularly interested in how technology impacts our current generation and, by extension, perceptions of our current generation. I often feel that adults are too quick to blame technology for the troubles of Generation Y (that is, us millennials), because the alternative means looking at themselves as a possible root cause for the supposed degeneration of our personal values. Evidently, this is quite a charged topic for me, and writing an academic essay may be difficult because I am so personally invested in this topic that I can't stop making pointed remarks towards the Baby Boomer generation (and Generation X) every few sentences. In my opinion, however, if I can rein in my vulgar tone, I think that it is far more interesting to read a paper from someone who truly cares about their topic, even if they can be sometimes a little crass about things.

Ultimately, I feel that this is an ideal topic for me because not only do I care about it, but it's also something that I could take in multiple directions. In my search, I may discover that technology may very well cause the downfall of our society. Alternatively, I may discover that (in alignment with my own beliefs) technology should and can be a source of hope for our future. This is a forward-minded question, but my range of time could span from tomorrow to a hundred generations. I think that this is certainly a limitless question, and it's also a question that I don't think will truly ever be answered.

This post is getting extremely long and rambling now, but I'd like to finish up by saying that I think the narrative nonfiction approach would be extremely interesting for this topic. It might end up like some kind of //Brave New World// facsimile, but I think a utopian society addressing technology's impact on the future - and purely that - might be a very convenient vehicle for my ideas.