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Jeremy Keeshin

Debate Outline

I. Constructive:
A. Introduction
i. Good day.
ii. Resolution: Increased reliance on technology undermines quality
of life in America.
iii. Thesis: Increased reliance on technology improves the quality of
life because new innovations improve American lifestyle while
connecting them with each other and the rest of the world.
iv. Values:
1. Progress
2. Technology
3. Family Time
B. Terms defined
i. Agreed to the terms with opposition.
C. Background Information
i. Brief History of Relevant Technologies
1. 3500 BC to 2900 BC The Phoenicians develop an alphabet.
2. 1876 Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.
3. 1983 First cellular phone network started in the United
States.
4. 1994 The World Wide Web is born.
D. Contentions listed
i. First contention: Technology has major health benefits because as
treatments get more advanced and cures are discovered, many lives
can be saved.
ii. Second contention: Progress in technology has bettered the
standard of living around the country with the help of appliances,
computers, and other helpful gadgets.
iii. Third contention: The reliance on technology helps humans stay in
contact and communicate with each other. The means of
communication has become much easier with the development of
the computer, Internet, email, and cell phone.
E. First Contention
i. Technology has major health benefits.
ii. [According to an article by the president a futurist company
Marvin Cetron] Medical knowledge is doubling every eight years
(Cetron).
iii. This means that whatever we know now, by 2014 we will know
twice as much. That is an extremely rapid rate of increase of
knowledge and it is only made possible by our expansive increase
of medical technologies.
iv. [According to an article by the president a futurist company
Marvin Cetron] In the next 10 years, we expect to see more and
better bionic limbs, hearts, and other organs; drugs that prevent
Jeremy Keeshin

disease rather than merely treating symptoms; and body monitors


that warn of impending trouble (Cetron).
v. Technology is making such progress now that we have even made
it possible to give people limbs that are not fortunate enough to
have them. We are advanced enough now that we can cure and
prevent diseases that we knew nothing about fifty years ago.
vi. The health benefits that we receive from technology are so great
that it directly improves the health and lifestyle of Americans
today.
F. Second Contention
i. Technology helps progress in the standard of living.
ii. [According to an article by the president a futurist company
Marvin Cetron] All the technological knowledge we work with
today will represent only 1% of the knowledge that will be
available in 2050. (Cetron)
iii. If we learn and acquire knowledge at this rate our society will be
extremely more advanced that it is today. This immense growth is
spurred by technology and directly makes the standard of living
better.
iv. Technological progress can be shown in our every day lives. From
my point of view, people rely on technology to help them in their
every day routine. A person uses their refrigerator to keep their
food chilled. People use cars and buses to transport themselves
from one place to another. They use cell phones to stay in contact
with each other. They use air conditioners and heaters to help
maintain temperature. We take the technology that we need for
granted. Every aspect of society is dependent on the current
technologies to make life easier. That is the purpose of technology.
v. The point of technology is to improve the standard of living, and it
does that. Inventions are not made to make things more difficult,
they are used to help out people.
vi. If we learn at the rate we do and continue to make progress in
technology, as we undoubtedly will, the progress in the standard of
living will continue to improve. What is it that separates us from
the cavemen? It is our technology. We have advanced since their
time, and will continue to improve in the future.
G. Third Contention
i. Technology helps communication.
ii. [Author Steven Johnson says] Today's kids see the screen as an
environment to be explored, inhabited, shared and shaped. They're
blogging. They're building their MySpace pages. They're
constructing elaborate fan sites for their favorite artists or TV
shows (Johnson).
iii. The Internet is keeping today’s youth connected. Distance does not
become an issue when you can communicate and exchange ideas
Jeremy Keeshin

with people around the world. And this is not only for the youth; it
is for adults and businesses as well.
iv. [Journalist Elizabeth Moore says] The iPod isn't just changing the
way students take notes--it's turning college into a realm of
perpetual connectivity (Moore).
v. The new music gadget called the iPod has not been helping
learning. Technology has been used in a positive manner to help
educate our country.
vi. The Internet, as well as the telephone and cell phone is what keep
people together in the current age. Distance is not an issue when
communication is available through a phone or computer that is
easily at hand.
H. Conclusion
i. Remember that increased reliance on technology improves the
quality of life because new innovations improve American lifestyle
while connecting them with each other and the rest of the world.
1. Technology has major health benefits.
2. Technology improves the standard of living.
3. Technology keeps people connected around the country.

II. Cross-Examination
A. Contention 1: Health Benefits
i. Do you like being healthy?
ii. Do you think technological advances in medicine have helped us
be healthier as Americans?
iii. Do you think we would we would discover cures and learn about
disease in the same rate we do without the help of technology?
B. Contention 2: Standard of Living
i. Do you spend time on the computer and watching TV every day?
ii. Is technology an intrinsic part of your life?
iii. Has technology made your life easier?
C. Contention 3: Communication
i. Do you stay in contact with people through email and the Internet
that you otherwise would not be able to talk to?
ii. Do you have easier access to information because of the Internet?
iii. Do TV and the Internet help update you of news?
D. Opposing Contention 1: Family Time
i. Do you spend a considerable amount of time on the computer?
ii. Are you able to communicate with your family through the Internet
and email?
iii. Do you still spend a good amount of time with your family?
iv. POINT- it is still possible to use the technology of the day and still
stay connected with your family and have family time.
E. Opposing Contention 2: Misinformation
i. Would you rather have no information whatsoever than bad
information sprinkled in amongst good information?
Jeremy Keeshin

ii. Are there a lot of good information sources as well as bad ones,
available on the Internet and through other media?
iii. Do you have the ability to tell a useful site from a bad site on the
Internet?
iv. POINT- There is a lot of information on the Internet, and the
individual has the power to extract the useful information if the
technology is harnessed properly.
F. Opposing Contention 3: Privacy
i. Do you like terrorists?
ii. Do you think government investigations with advanced technology
can help to stop these attacks?
iii. Is the risk of your website history being examined outweighed by
the amount of lives that can be saved from the use of technology?
iv. POINT- For the sacrifice of a little bit of our online privacy, the
government has the ability to obstruct terrorist attacks and help us
be safer.

III. Rebuttal
A. Review
i. Thesis: Increased reliance on technology improves the quality of
life because new innovations improve American lifestyle while
connecting them with each other and the rest of the world.
ii. Contentions
1. First contention: Technology has major health benefits
because as treatments get more advanced and cures are
discovered, many lives can be saved.
2. Second contention: Progress in technology has bettered the
standard of living around the country with the help of
appliances, computers, and other helpful gadgets.
3. Third contention: The reliance on technology helps
humans stay in contact and communicate with each other.
The means of communication has become much easier with
the development of the computer, Internet, email, and cell
phone.
B. Defend Contentions
i. First contention: Technology has major health benefits because as
treatments get more advanced and cures are discovered, many lives
can be saved.
1. Opponent Attack: Technology does more harm than good to
our health.
2. The Human Genome Project has already begun to yield
promising new treatments for genetic disease. Already, this
research has yielded possible cures for hemophilia, cystic
fibrosis, familial hypercholesterolemia, a variety of
cancers, and AIDS (Cetron).
Jeremy Keeshin

3. Reasoning: The Human Genome Project helps us learn


about new cures for genetic disease and become more
educated on these topics.
4. Connection: New treatments that are found can help cure
diseases and improve the quality of life of those who are ill.
ii. Second contention: Progress in technology has bettered the
standard of living around the country with the help of appliances,
computers, and other helpful gadgets.
1. Opponent Attack: Standard of living is not better.
2. In an assisted living home on the outskirts of Portland,
Ore., a retired nuclear engineer who suffers from
Alzheimer's disease gets out of bed in the middle of the
night. His daughter, a night owl in San Diego who monitors
her dad's location, vital signs and activities via a secure
Web connection, sees in real time that he has left his room
and gone to the nearby kitchen (Scharnberg).
3. New innovations allow people to keep track of the elderly
and ease out old age.
4. Reliance on technology makes the standard of living for the
elderly better.
iii. Third contention: The reliance on technology helps humans stay in
contact and communicate with each other. The means of
communication has become much easier with the development of
the computer, Internet, email, and cell phone.
1. Communication through the Internet and phones loses face-
to-face contact.
2. [Incoming college student Sharde] Thomas, who uses
instant messaging to stay in touch not only with friends but
also with her mother while they're apart, said using all this
technology really has become second nature for young
people now (Walsh).
3. Technology allows people to stay in touch who otherwise
would not be able to communicate face to face.
4. Reliance on technology makes it easier for people to stay
connected to each other.
C. Attack Opponent’s Contentions
i. First contention: Reliance on technology leads to a loss of family
time.
1. For Thomas, these things aren't just fun gizmos; they are
vital to keeping her connected to friends, family and the
world around her (Walsh).
2. Instant messaging and the cell phone are what bring
together today’s families.
3. The use of cell phones allows long distance communication
between families and keeps them connected.
Jeremy Keeshin

ii. Second contention: People who rely on technology too much are
susceptible to misinformation.
1. It's clear what the web's most important contribution to a
well-informed public will be. Web-based schools will
enormously expand our educational options, and make it
much easier than it is today to circumvent educationally
corrupt local schools. Many such web projects are already
underway and doing fine (Gelernter).
2. Misinformation is overridden by the amount of positive
information and educational options available by
technology.
3. New innovations such as the Internet make us more
informed and help us more than hurt us.
iii. Third Contention: Reliance on technology gives us less privacy.
1. [GPS technology] Rosum, which counts among its
investors In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the Central
Intelligence Agency, promises a vast improvement in
location-tracking services and gadgets. That could help
everyone from the military to dispatchers tracking delivery
trucks. (Takahashi).
2. Our safety is more important than our privacy.
3. New technological gadgets have helped us keep track of
people and things more easily.
D. Conclusion
i. Thesis restated: Increased reliance on technology improves the
quality of life because new innovations improve American lifestyle
while connecting them with each other and the rest of the world.
ii. Review main clash points
1. Technology is helping us vs. hurting us
2. Technology is advancing us vs. slowing us
3. Technology is connecting us vs. tearing us apart
iii. Technology is here to stay. To return to the candle and cave is
unthinkable (Wenk Jr.).

IV. Extra evidence


A. First Contention:
i. By 2025, the first nanotechnology-based medical therapies should
reach clinical use. Microscopic machines will monitor our internal
processes, remove cholesterol plaques from artery walls, and
destroy cancer cells before they have a chance to form a tumor
(Cetron).
ii. By 2006, 10% of prescriptions will be filled over the Internet, just
as prescription drugs have been bought by mail order since the
1970s (Cetron).
B. Second Contention:
Jeremy Keeshin

i. Medical technology is improving rapidly, too, and by 2020 new


babies can expect to live well over 100 years and perhaps to 130
(Pearson).
C. Third Contention:
i. The biggest technological leap in media over the past century has
permitted just about anyone to launch a media enterprise. With the
Internet, "the costs of entry are nothing," says Brian Trench, senior
lecturer in communications at the Dublin City University (Kohut).
ii. The precipitous drop in the costs of international
telecommunications is setting in motion an extraordinarily
powerful force for increasing the already fast pace of globalization.
(Burnham)

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