As B. F. Skinner once said, “The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do”. In the story, The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury, the main character, Mr. Leonard Mead, lives in a futuristic world where technology has completely taken over human life. The problem that B. F. Skinner talked about has come true in its entirety; people fully rely on the machines that think for them, rather than thinking for themselves. This further proves that technology negatively affects society and its inhabitants. When technology is mistreated, the community and the people in it become destroyed. In the long run, a society that is overrun by technology becomes antisocial and disapproves of individuality. As seen in the story, technology takes …show more content…
For instance, Mr. Mead was stopped by an automated police car, which picked him up simply for walking rather than being inside watching television. When Mr. Mead asks where the car is bringing him, the computerized voice responds,”To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies” (176). Society has gone so far as to take away anyone who is behaving in a way that resembles anything of the past, such as walking. Any individual that doesn’t participate in the ways of the present becomes an outsider who needs to be corrected. In addition, the voice of the police car expects Mr. Mead to be a photocopy of other people in the community. The voice asks,”And you have a viewing screen in your house to see with?”, to which Mr. Mead responds,”No”. The narrator goes on to explain,”There was a crackling quiet that in itself was an accusation” (176). Though Mr. Mead’s activity hurts no one, it is evident through the police car’s response that any old-fashioned activity, specifically walking, is denounced. It seems as though everyone is consuming technology on a massive scale except for Mr. Mead. Consequently, people become engrossed in technology, creating a monotonous, automated