Nicks

Technology

“I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity - The world will only have a generation of idiots.” With these words, first uttered by Albert Einstein long before the era of Pc’s and iPhones and even portable phones or phones at all existed, I want to make you aware of the Philosophers wisdom in my todays scheme. Now that technology plays such a major role in all of our daily lives, we have to ask ourselves, has Einstein’s fear become true? Fact is, that TECHNOLOGY is steadily taking over our lives, with 70 per cent of survey respondents admitting they spend at least three hours at home every day in front of some kind of screen. Technology is running circles around society! Lapping us as we struggle to keep up and hold on. As soon as we can both afford and grasp the idea of some invention, a "new and enhanced" one is on the market and selling out. The power of computers is immense these days and I am so frightened that our lives are yielding to the use of them, consequently swallowing up the importance of the human mind and personal interaction with others.

To answer the question, if Einstein’s fear has become true: I suggest that we first find out, if we can deal wisely with our technology sources. Have we become completely dependent on them, or have we even in the end become slaves of our own technology devices? If we are slaves, of our own invented technology, which was initially meant to help us, rather than us becoming dependent on them, then we are indeed becoming idiots. Perhaps each and every one of us simply has to ask himself if he or she can let go of all technological resources in our every day routine. You might think that the answer is yes, but if you are very honest with yourself, you will have to admit that the answer is in fact no. A few simple examples: If you are sitting at a restaurant with friends, do you feel just as ease if you don’t have your mobile with you? Can you truly enjoy and concentrate a whole evening without having the feeling someone is trying to contact you or you should be contacting someone yourself? Be honest. I doubt it.
Another example: Isn’t it so, that when we are supposed to be at a unknown location, we feel completely lost, if we can not set the location into the GPS of our car, or on Google Map in our mobile? It is not too long ago, that people would start using their own minds to find out the route themselves, or even ask a random person on the street for directions. But none of us does this anymore. We rely completely on our little technical gadgets. Technology made our lives simple but much dependent on it. We can sit in a corner and get connected to the world. Thus making the world a "global community." Communicate with a person in remote area within fraction of seconds , make a trip of the world within no time, all these are possible with the advanced technology ,making us more dependent on its usage. On facebook we are virtually friends with hundreds of people, whom many of them we barely speak to, when we meet them on the street. This is a fact that a generation ahead of us does not understand our parents generation. For us, it is normal and okay not to have to speak to all those 600 so called friends, but still feel a connection for them. For our parents, however this is hard to understand, and even less for generations before.
Concluding we must admit, that we have become completely dependant on our technology. We are even aware of it, but have not found a way to free ourselves from them without falling back.
Albert Einstein was a genious. He knew, from the start, that the day would come when technology would grow to the point that it’s effects also become negative for mankind and do us harm. But it lies in mankind’s nature to want to progress, even when assuming that a step forward can have a negative impact as well. We are all in the end only human. My intention was not to sit here and lecture you all about how technology is taking over the world or that the only way society will survive is if we go back to the basics. I am not going to ban technology from my life or revolt against production, for then I would be hypocritical (I am sitting in front of a laptop at this moment!). It is just that I am becoming conscious of the fact that as we give in to technological innovation, we give up on traditional human nature. I just want to be able to keep it all in control. I love people. I love communication and collaboration and learning about different people. I appreciate so much the distinctiveness of people, the uniqueness that each face and each voice conveys, and the ways in which each person I come across in life inspires a piece of me in some way. I want so much to keep in touch and to maintain connections with the special people in my
life.