TOEFL iBT Writing for an Academic Discussion Has technology truly given us more free time? - revised -

Has technology truly given us more free time? 

 

 

☆Let’s think

1.        Give examples of technologies that can give us more free time.

Note: washing machines, microwave ovens, copy machines, elevators, cars, bullet trains, industrial robots, drones, computers, the Internet, smartphones, AI, etc.

 

2.        Why can technology give us more free time?

Note: It can work faster, longer, more accurately, and much better than us humans. It can also make tasks simple, work in vast amounts and in various ways, and do what we cannot do.

 

3.        Why does the question have the word “truly”? How can technology encroach on our free time?

Note: Has the technology of irrigation given humans more free time? Are hunter-gatherers busier than agriculturalists or people in an industrialized society? Whose life is closest to that in the Garden of Eden?

 

 

☆Hints for Points

・Technology has freed us from most manual labor. A man without technology on a deserted island spends most of the day preparing for meals, while no one does so in the industrialized world.

 

・No matter how developed technology becomes, workload won’t go down. We are doing more tasks in the same amount of time as before. Workers used to be able to forget about their jobs completely after work and fathers used to spend time with their children every day 35 years ago because once they leave their work places, their employers had no means of contact except for fixed telephones and taking paperwork home was hardly ever done. Connectivity through pocket beepers, mobile phones, and laptop computers has forced workers to be ready to work round the clock.

 

・Almost a hundred years ago, Burtrand Russell said that technological advancement ought to allow workers work only four hours a day but that traditional work ethic prevents it from happening. In other words, the rich don’t like the idea of giving workers free time, according to him.

 

・Technology in itself is neutral. A hammer can be used to build a house. It can also be used to smash someone’s skull. - Noam Chomsky

 

・ Technological development has made workers redundant. Robots are replacing humans and there is a concern about job loss in many areas of business. Forced leisure is not what you call free time. It’s death, deprivation of right to live as a human, enjoying cultural life and pursuing happiness. Meanwhile, billionaires may be free from so-called labor but they are busy building underground bunkers to survive a catastrophe they expect will happen due to their inhumane management.

 

 

☆Sample Response

【Thesis】 I believe that technology has fundamentally increased our leisure time.

【Supporting Details】 Electronic appliances have optimized work process and made it possible to finish tasks efficiently. Advanced means of transportation has reduced travel time. From household work to clerk jobs to science researches, technological streamlining has reduced time for each task, and the change allows for time for rest and activities other than labor.

【Counterargument-treatment】It is true that quicker transportation leads to extra job assignments and mobile devices like smartphones and tablets makes it possible for managers to force workers who are off-duty to return to the office or contact them on holidays, the problem is not in the technology but in the society or our values. We are busy because we have not learned to be satisfied with what we already have and have yet to know what makes us feel truly happy.

【Conclusion】 It is our mentality and lifestyle that still keeps us busy while technology is ready to free us from wasting time for routines. Therefore, it can be said that technology has helped us make spare time.　(181 words)

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DRAFT