People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology
Are we too dependent on Technology?
Have we become too dependent on technology? Are we losing the ability or willingness to think and memorise? How many of us today know the phone numbers of our friends and family? Computers, cell phones, iPads and tablets are wonderful things but our ability to think individually is definitely being diminished as far as I am concerned.
My brother-in-law seems not to agree with me on this as, in response to a comment on Face Book saying that we are becoming too dependent on computers, he wrote “I disagree, computers make the brain smarter. Remember too that human brains invented and designed them [computers]. I don't think I could function without them. In fact, when we have a storm like this afternoon, we switch off the modem and read a book, can't work.” At least he read a book and gained knowledge that way!
How computers can make a person smarter I am not sure, unless he means we can glean a lot of information through using them. I agree that it was through the use of the human brain that computers were and, continue to be, designed and upgraded and that the equipment is extremely useful. I am writing this on a computer and will be very upset if the electricity goes off! Agreed, I don’t run a business on my computer as my brother-in-law does, but it amazes me how many people, both children and adults cannot survive without their cell phones and i-pads etc. Sometimes trying to have a conversation with them is a real challenge.
It is that kind of dependence which makes me ask, ‘Are we losing our ability to think for ourselves?’ Plagiarising and collating information is just the press of a button away. It is rarely necessary to take that information and compare it with another person’s because that is usually already done on the same webpage. I witnessed a young pupil do a project on Sudan a couple of months ago. She ‘Googled’ the word Sudan, did a lot of cutting and pasting, printed some pictures and the project was
Have we become too dependent on technology? Are we losing the ability or willingness to think and memorise? How many of us today know the phone numbers of our friends and family? Computers, cell phones, iPads and tablets are wonderful things but our ability to think individually is definitely being diminished as far as I am concerned.
My brother-in-law seems not to agree with me on this as, in response to a comment on Face Book saying that we are becoming too dependent on computers, he wrote “I disagree, computers make the brain smarter. Remember too that human brains invented and designed them [computers]. I don't think I could function without them. In fact, when we have a storm like this afternoon, we switch off the modem and read a book, can't work.” At least he read a book and gained knowledge that way!
How computers can make a person smarter I am not sure, unless he means we can glean a lot of information through using them. I agree that it was through the use of the human brain that computers were and, continue to be, designed and upgraded and that the equipment is extremely useful. I am writing this on a computer and will be very upset if the electricity goes off! Agreed, I don’t run a business on my computer as my brother-in-law does, but it amazes me how many people, both children and adults cannot survive without their cell phones and i-pads etc. Sometimes trying to have a conversation with them is a real challenge.
It is that kind of dependence which makes me ask, ‘Are we losing our ability to think for ourselves?’ Plagiarising and collating information is just the press of a button away. It is rarely necessary to take that information and compare it with another person’s because that is usually already done on the same webpage. I witnessed a young pupil do a project on Sudan a couple of months ago. She ‘Googled’ the word Sudan, did a lot of cutting and pasting, printed some pictures and the project was