Wow! We’ve come so far in the last few decades. Life is extremely different than it was twenty years ago: even ten years ago! We have been blessed with so many technological advancements to make our lives easier and more productive. But sometimes I wonder, are all of these so-called “fabulous” inventions going to have a negative impact on our lives long term by making us and the humans of the future dumb and lazy? (Yes, I am guilty of using all of these inventions mentioned below)
1. Price Check Machines in retail stores: These wonderful inventions make it convenient for those who are not good at figuring out what 30% off of a shirt that is $40 would be. But how many of us pay a visit to this machine even when we know how to do the math in our heads? Here’s a quick tip: Drop the zeros, and multiply the numbers to get the amount off. In this instance, 4 x 3 = 12, so it’s $12 off.
2. GPS Navigation Systems/Map Quest: Are you planning a road trip? Why make it complicated by reading and following a map when a navigation system, Map Quest or Google Maps can do the hard work for you? Yes, I do own a navigation system, and I love it because I do not have the best sense of direction. However, I do wonder if there will come a time or if that time is now that people do not know how to determine if they are going, north, south, west or east without consulting their navigation device.
3. Spell Check and Grammar Check: Who needs to know how to spell or write well anymore when the computer will proofread it for them right? Wrong!!!! Has a red line ever come under your name letting you know it was spelled incorrectly? Would you correct it because the computer told you it was wrong? Sometimes your word is not even misspelled but misused, like to, two and too…and these days “2” even appears in people’s formal documents as a result of text language.
4. Microwaves: Just pop it in the microwave! How many people prepare or even know how to cook a decent home-cooked meal without using the microwave? Of course, I do use it occasionally for popcorn and a quick heat and eat meal when I am on the go, but I wonder what will happen when the matriarchs and some patriarchs of families pass on and take their cooking skills with them. Who really wants a microwaved Sunday or holiday dinner?
5.Televisions: Who hasn’t found themselves getting sucked in to the latest reality show or sitcom marathon: lazily wasting hours that could be used for something far more productive. I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy watching a television show or two consumed by its alluring glow. But I started to think about how lazy it made me and how I needed to do a better job at exercising my brain and body. When is the last time that you plopped in front of the television for hours when you planned to do something else and wondered, “Where did the time go?”
6. Speed Dial: Who needs to memorize anyone’s number when there’s speed dial? Do you know your significant other’s number or close family member’s number by heart? We rely so much on cell phones and home phones to do the work for us. I may be one of the few who still uses the key pad to store people’s number in my brain rather than the phone alone.
7. Processed / Pre-packaged Food: I’m not an ultra health nut, but in the past few years I have made a conscious effort to eat healthy and get my daily nutrients. But I just can’t resist purchasing processed or prepackaged food. Honestly, who really has the time to make their own apple sauce or to bake their own multi-grain bread? I surely don’t, but I have read several articles and health books which suggest that people should try to avoid these processed foods. They tend to make us sluggish and can have an impact on our brain power.
8. Cars: Why walk to the corner store which is about a five to ten minute walk when you get hop in your car, and waste gas to get there? People wonder why Americans are one of the most overweight nations. If forced to conjecture, I would have to say that driving everywhere may have something to do with it.
9. Escalators/Elevators/Airport Conveyor Belts: Who are elevators really meant for? People with disabilities? Those with strollers or too much to carry up or down the stairs? When it is five or more stories to climb? Or for those able bodied people who get on at the first floor and take the elevator to the second floor? Is there a rule that says you mustn’t walk down or up an escalator while you are holding on the rail? Have many of us just become accustomed to having these machines do the walking for us?
10. The Internet: Of course, the world wide web is fabulous! Why else would I post a blog? There are many attributes, let us not forget some of the flaws. The internet gives us information right at our fingertips which is great. But many people have become self-reliant on the internet and take the information as “gospel.” For example, students are more prone to plagiarize because of the temptation to copy and paste thereby making them dumb. Not that plagiarizing is ethical or the right decision, but many of these students are too lazy to type out something they read in a book which makes it even easier for them to get caught.
Do you have another smart invention that might be setting us back in one way or another? Please feel free to share.
All the best,
Anonomz aka Tanya Harris
Journey of Anonomz 