Is High Technology Making us Lazy? By Mel

 

Today’s society is so dependent on high technology.  We are a fast-driven, impatient society with a ‘quick second I want it right now’ way of thinking.  Just think about, the microwave for example fits in this category from the moment you pop in your meal as you wait until it finish heating up your process mash potatoes in your kitchen to the very last second.  You think to yourself “hurry up microwave; I cannot miss the super bowl and I need my mash potatoes now!”   Back then, cooking was more of a learning experience, putting certain ingredients together to give you that awe inspiring taste.  Need to say it also makes a man more attractive to have this on his resume.  A woman wants all their feelings intertwine with sight if you have a neat place, hear if you have great music to listen to, touch where you hold hands and smell nice cologne match with a nice cook meal for the evening.  Plus cooking took patience which allows you to build an even stronger emotional connection with her providing you with extra brownie points.   Then we have smart phones excuse me, dumb phones because it does not allow individuals to think.  For Christ sakes it auto corrects your mistakes if it disagrees with your grammar.  There is no emotional connection with texting and also messages can be misconstrued.  By someone’s voice you can tell if they have a bad attitude, confident, sad, happy but today’s standard of communication is mostly replaced with 140 characters with no creative insights.  Growing up my generation did not have access to the internet versus today where now computers are available through every grade level.  Kids are maturing at a much faster rate due to overexposure of information.  The advantage is that they can digest knowledge at a very rapid rate to prepare them for the outside world.  The disadvantage is sexual content is now available in which some kids imitate the behaviors off of graphic shows seen as acceptable in today’s society.  This is a double edge sword in because strong parents must monitor sexual content on high tech devices.  Innovation can also change the way you view content.  I read this one article on a French tech start-up company boasting a bracelet which will project a touchscreen on your wrist along with 3 dimensional glasses.  Why?  To see what the weather is going to be like in 3D?  Another article reported from Newsweek’s own Catherine Ostler proclaims a miracle pill which can remove fat stating, “A pill that can trick the brain into feeling full by elevating satiety hormones and thus sending it false messages from the gut, only feeling full will stop us from eating, and if we can medically induce that, then we will have slayed the obesity dragon.”  What happen to self-discipline by going to the gym by burning those extra calories and pushing ourselves to the limit to reach our goals?  Wouldn’t that be more satisfying instead of taking a shortcut?  What happen to learning how to cook instead of popping hot pockets in the microwave accepting this snack as our dinner?  What happen to calling someone to hear their voice and having an intellectual conversation instead of texting someone without any emotional impact? High technology can benefit us as a collective unit but some individuals are abusing it to the point that they cannot survive without it or they are becoming too damn lazy.