Only the Educated take Advantage of New Technologies?

Only educated people can take advantage of new technologies. Describe a specific situation in which uneducated people might be able to take advantage of a new technology. Discuss what you think determines whether only educated people can take advantage of new technologies. The 21st century has so far been marked by rapid expansion of technologies that are accessible to a diversity of people. Innovations in telecommunications, including the cell phone and internet, are used more and more by rich and poor alike, in effect, creating a world with people that are more informed and connected to each other. Education, indeed, helps people take full advantage of these technologies in order to provoke social and political changes (for the better or worse) in society. However, even uneducated people have been able to benefit from technologies that are especially designed to be user friendly and accessible to the wider population. Education allows people to use new technology in a way that furthers change beyond their households. For example, educated people apply their higher thinking skills to enlighten others about a pressing societal issue through blogs and others means of communication via the internet. In fact, the Arab Spring movement became so powerful due to the efforts of (mostly) educated people who wanted to disrupt authoritarian rule in their societies. People of all economic backgrounds participated in the movement but the change agents were those who were informed about the politics and history of the nations in the first place. Not all educated people have a social conscience and wish to provoke positive change. In fact, some use new technology to promote their nefarious agendas. For instance, a brilliant computer scientist can plan ways to interfere with a nation's electrical grid and disrupt the lives of millions of people. A nuclear physicist can contribute to design of bombs that cause undue suffering amongst an innocent civilian population. Indeed, an educated person without a sound sense of ethics could wreak havoc in society and cause more harm than good. However, one does not need to be educated to benefit from new technologies. Increasingly, technologies, especially those in telecommunication, are more accessible to people who have not gone to the university to develop higher thinking skills. Uneducated people on a regular basis, for example, use the internet to handle day to day tasks, such as emailing and managing personal finances. While the internet was once limited to programmers and such specialist, it is now so user friendly that even a new reader, such as a six-year old, can navigate his way through it with ease. Educated and non-educated alike have been able to take advantage of new technologies. However, one's level of education is usually correlated with the extent of the use and impact on society. Education, in general, tends to increase one's vision and perception of what she can do to impact the world around her. Of course, there are special cases of individuals who did not have the opportunity to receive an education but whose intelligence allowed them to break through barriers and creatively use technology. Indeed, while one's level of education is not a sine qua non for taking advantage of technology to provoke change, it helps increase the chances for applying innovative thinking to real life problems.