Using the Social Imagination to Understand Modern TechnologyIn The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills, Mills explains how the social imagination can be used to help us better understand society and the ways in which it is constantly changing. The more Mills explained the social imagination, the more I realized how necessary it is to use the social imagination in an age where technology rules our lives. When Mills raises the three questions in chapter 1, one set of questions he asks is: “What is the structure of this particular society as a whole? What are its essential components and how are they related to each other? How does it differ from other varieties of social order” (6)? If these questions are applied to today's society, they reveal the way modern history is shaped by technology. Without social imagination we might not notice that the gap between third world and first world countries is widening rapidly due to the rapid growth of technology. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Living in a first world country, we don't realize how advanced our technology is compared to the rest of the world, and in a third world country, people may not see that their technology lags behind to the rest of the world. Indeed, Mills mentions this idea when he says, “What ordinary men are directly aware of and what they try to do is limited by the private orbits in which they live; their visions and powers are limited to close-up scenes of work, family, and neighborhood” (3). And that's a valid point, because people are so caught up in their own lives that they rarely stop to think about what's going on in the rest of the world. This is exactly why the sociological imagination is so important, because it helps us realize these differences in our world and this gives us the initiative to create programs that help provide third world countries with more advanced technologies. Therefore, without the use of the social imagination, I have no doubt that humanity would live a life of ignorance and blatantly ignore the rest of the world..