During the
last decades, technology has rapidly improved having an impact not only in our
lifestyles but also in our minds. Have you ever heard someone saying that we live in
an “era of smart phones and dumb people”? I have, but I don’t totally agree with
this thought.
Searching for some
information on the web, I've come across an interesting piece of news which
describes a project carried out by a team of entrepreneurs from Harvard
Innovation Lab that aims at illustrating how technology has evolved the last 35
years.
The project,
called “Evolution of the Desk”, consists of a series of pictures which show how
a cluttered desk (full of electronic devices) has recently changed into an
empty one with only a laptop and a Smartphone. Although the information and the project are quite
interesting, what actually called my attention was the last comment in the
article made by one of the researchers. By citing Albert Einstein, the researcher says: "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” And, in my
opinion this is one of the most controversial issues nowadays.
Of course, we
cannot deny that the last improvements in technology have made our lives easier.
But at the same time, these changes have affected our way of thinking in a
considerable manner. Currently, most people don’t even take the time to do
mental calculations… what for? We have calculators that simplify that sort of
tasks for us. Memorizing phone numbers, addresses, important dates,
appointments, among others examples, seem to be old-fashioned and useless tasks. Our cell-phones
and laptops do all those kind of things and more.
Due to this
reason, many people believe that we have become dumber throughout the last
decades. However, from my point of view, being “dumber” is an inappropriate
term. What I strongly believe is that technology has made us LAZIER. Why would
we make our minds do a lot of effort to remember things if computers do it for
us? Perhaps, the main point in this issue is that there’s some propaganda which
tries to convince us that, in a way, we are lowering our intelligence capacity.
Nevertheless, it seems that it’s easier to accept that idea than to consider
ourselves lazy people; mainly because it’s simpler to blame technology for
those changes than to make us responsible for the misuse we make of technological devices.
Do you agree
with the idea that we live in the “era of smart technology and dumb people”? What
I’m heartily convinced of is that we’re not becoming more stupid, but lazier.
Hi Dani !
ReplyDeleteThe first time I heard that saying "era of smart phones and dumb people" was on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY, which I found quite striking and it kept me thinking, because I feel that my life sometimes and in some ways is like that. You're talking to someone and they're just answering Whatsapp messages or checking their Twitter or Facebook accounts and it's kind of painful when someone's not interested in what you're saying and probably I haven't realised but I do the same thing. How awful is that!? And yet I have to say that I totally agree with you. We are becoming lazier and lazier. I declare myself GUILTY of using the calculator, I don't even try to use my brain in that way, but that's not the whole point. I do believe that apart from becoming lazier, we are also becoming dumb. But, let me explain, dumb in the way that sometimes we are so immersed in this technological world with our accounts on social networks, that we do not stop to delight in those little moments that make our lives unique and marvellous. I would like to collect those moments, and preserve them in an archive deep inside me, ready to enjoy them again. Many times we are dumb, because of having our eyes fixed on our screens and because we do not see what is happening all around us. We are dumb because we deprive ourselves of the delight of each moment of our lives. After all, we only have one life. And I agree with the video on this , LOOK UP, many things are waiting for us far away from the screen, which is why I won’t write again on my blog hahaha.
P.D: Woow! This is longer than what I wrote on my blog. I was kind of inspired after reading something on Ailín's blog :P
Nice reflection!!! You're right when you say that we've become dumber in the sense that we spend most part of the day using technology, and we don't stop to look at what's happening around us. We're losing precious moments of our life which we can't get back.
DeleteThe video is great (I didn't know it). I totally agree with the guy when he says that even though we're constantly communicating with others, we're actually alone. We should pay more attention to our loved ones, to people and things around us, and try to enjoy each moment of our lives.
P.S.: I love your last comments hahahaha...
I agree with both of you. People seem to be alone even when they are with other people. Several articles and videos speak of our lack of strong bonds in the era of communication. I would like to add that our dumbness comes from the fact that we do not need the knowledge to reach certain goals (because they ar not such anymore). This way, we know less about certain topics that were common sence to our ancestor. I don't know if it will be good or bad in the long run but it is how we evolve according to our needs.
ReplyDeleteHi, Dani! I agree with you in the fact that the term “dumb” for people is not correct. However, lazy fits perfectly. After all, who are the ones that invent smart phones? People, right? We are not that dumb after all? Hahaha. It is a fact that we live in a digital era in which people feel lost if they don’t have internet connection because we are used to have things done for us in question of minutes.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, indeed. LOVED IT!!