Topic4

Topic 4
**Health and Ergonomic Issues Created by Computers** **by Ken Moyer**

A lot of health issues and ergonomic issues are created by the use of computers. This essay will mention the many social issues.

The design of the keyboard and the mouse puts enormous pressure on your arms. To use the keyboard and the mouse, you have to turn your arm 90 degrees, which is a natural positioning of the arm. But, then you have to turn your wrist 90 degrees. It is very unnatural to turn your wrist 90 degrees and to keep that position for hours. A lot of people get arm problems from intense usage of computers. But 20 years ago, some organization created a mouse in which you could keep your arm straight and still do all of the present functions. This mouse creates very little pressure to the arm. The social issue is why the society doesn’t use this new technology instead of the old mouse which creates a lot of health problems.

Back aches can be caused by bad posture. When using the computer, people usually have a fixed posture. This posture creates a lot of pressure on the back. A solution has been created though. If people sat on bouncing balls, then the user will have to adjust their position once in a while. This adjustment eases the pressure. But, as you know most companies don’t use bouncing balls. People could also take a walk once in a while. The social issue is why doesn’t the society try to solve this problem.

The use of computers also create visual problems. When using the computer, the muscles of the eyes are held constantly because the vision doesn’t change. This creates pressure on the muscles, which cause visual problems. The eyes are supposed to look at something different every now and then to move your eye muscles. Experiments have proved that the eye should be leveled with the top of the screen. This lets the user gaze into space when thinking. But most eyes are leveled with the middle of the screen. It is easy to adjust the desks, chairs, or screens to solve this problem. The social issue is why the society doesn’t try to solve this health issue.

Electromagnetic radiation is constantly being exposed to you while you are using your computer Electromagnetic radiations are invisible lines of forces. The ones that are created by your computer can distort an electron of an atom. This can cause severe health problems like: lower growth rates of tissues, birth defects, increase probability of cancer, interference in the cell processes, alters neurological functions, alters neurohormone productions, affects the pineal glands, and finally influences the creation of dopamine, which later on affects the immune system. As you just read, radiation creates a lot of health problems. These are the health problems humans are aware of. I’m sure there are a lot of health problems that we humans just don’t know about. There is technology that lowers the emission of radiation, but not all computers use this technology. This is probably due to the cost of the technology. But, the society should protect people from radiation because a lot of money will become necessary to cure all of these health problems. In the long run, people live longer and money is going to be saved. The social issue is why doesn’t society try to solve this problem when they have the ability to do so.

All of the health and ergonomic problems mentioned above can be solved by the society. The society chooses not to solve the problems because of the high costs or because the people don’t like to change their habits. But there are consequences to these problems, which are the health problems. The computer is creating a humongous negative externality to the society. The society needs to compensate this negative externality by spending money to try and solve these problems.