Is Technology Making Us Dumb?
A new report suggests the upcoming boom in GPS devices could ultimately “make us dumb.” It’s a logical argument, except for one oversight: We already are.
I’m not just saying that to be difficult. I mean, the story makes some valid points. As we learn to rely more on technology for tasks, we do get less practice in accomplishing those same results ourselves. My argument is just that the vast majority of people were floundering before the technology was available, so giving them that crutch can only help.
Take, for example, the best “slice of life” you can find — somewhere everyone in society has to visit. Yes, I’m talking about the good ol’ DMV itself. Have you seen the people in there lately? Half of them can’t fill out a simple form to save their lives, and most can’t follow simple directions to complete their transaction in less than seven minutes.
So yeah, spellcheck might get us out of the habit of manually proofreading, and GPS might get us out of the habit of reading maps. But let’s face it: Most of us were failing miserably at those tasks before the technology ever came along. The added support will at least equalize the flunkies with the rest of society, and — as an extra bonus — keep the abled part of the population from having to deal with widespread incompetence.
At least, that’s what my data analysis software told me.
I enjoyed this post and agree with it totally. Do we really need a GPS in our car to tell us how to get to WalMart? Do we really need to surf the internet on our phones? I also agree about the DMV except that the same problem exists on the other side of the counter also. The people that work there act as if they have all the time in the world when the line wraps around the building three times! It does make you worry about our society as a whole and where we are heading.
@AS/400, I’m with you on that — I think we can go ahead and group the DMV employees with most of the customers. I guess it’s actually a pretty good match when you think about it…
I love the that is what my data analysis software told me! Our upper-management wants a dashboard now. I would guess our explaining on what is happening was not satisfactory. The bad part is that they can’t even open Microsoft Word. I have been exploring new products that I can develop a dashboard pretty fast in. I have to disagree with the DMV thing. I live in Tallahassee, I like to call it the smart part of Florida. The main DMV here is quite streamlined and not to mention there are a lot of things I can do online. I have never experienced the snake lines. I wouldn’t consider the people behind the counter super-smart, but they are efficient. In fact they are more efficient than some of their over-sea out-source/off-shored counterparts.
That ending was so sexy.
Well, it won’t make me dumber, ’cause I have no intention of utilising this GPS technology in any way, any time soon.
I know that the next statement sounds like a huge generalization which,like any generalization,doesn’t cover the numerous exceptions to this “rule of automatisation makes our brains redundant” but nevertheless – I’ve been working in IT industry for 25 years now starting with repairing old IBM printers to writing administrative scripts for the large enterprise I’m working for now – I fear that in a couple of decades the capacity of human brain will have reduced to such a level that the only thing it can think about while wanting to undertake any action – from cooking an egg to writing a decent letter – will be “where do I have to click with the mouse?”.
Are we acting like the wizard apprentice in story still known my most of us?…..