After reading chapter 5 of Smarter Than You Think, he brings up a statement that states that we rely on technology for memories. After theory crafting if this is true or not, I am more likely to agree with him. We don't seem to care about other's information, if we have access of a computer. The internet provides faster and more informative information, so we turn towards technology when we have a problem rather than our friends. We also read MORE because the internet provides so much information, but do we actually remember what we read? You can read a book fast and know the main parts of the story, but many people don't read closely and precisely because they can use technology to help them remember things they forget.
How much information would we actually know if we didn't have technology?
People use the internet as if it was an extra leg they can stand on. After reading or watching something on the news, people would react and spread the news to others. After time people will forget more on the subject and eventually know very little on the subject. If it was ever brought up again, people will definitely run to the internet to dig up some information on the subject to remind them what happened in that exact news article. We depend on technology to remind us on almost everything. Technology can come from a basic alarm clock just to wake you up to a machine that can replace human labor. The fact that we use technology to help us be more careful is definitely a positive thing; however, are we pushing its boundaries? We can easily use our friends as sources in certain situation, but we choose not to. We all need to understand that even though our information is limited, we should use it to the best of our advantage.
Do you think that technology is causing us to be careless in our daily lives?
Though technology has made us careless, I don't believe that relying on technology for memories is why. There's nothing wrong with needing an alarm clock to assure that you'll wake up on time. I also don't believe that people are going to the internet more than their friends. You can't get the same advice from the internet that you can with a human being. I do believe that we allow technology like television and the internet to influence our choices, so I can see where you might think that we are going to the internet instead of our friends for advice. It's not advice we (especially teenagers) seek from the internet, but inspiration for our daily lives. However, I do agree with your comment on machines that replace human labor. Technology is decreasing our need for human labor. Many people have lost jobs to modern technology and it's sad.
ReplyDeleteYou make a valid point about technology making us careless. Yet, I think I it makes us careless in a different way. Technology encourages laziness. We decide to use the shortcuts technology provides us with. Grammar and spelling are not a priority on social media or when communicating with people. We have auto-correct do that job for us. And rather than entertaining ourselves by being active we sit and watch television.
Society uses technology to work for us and think for us. It's requires less effort on our part. We get used to this and we become careless. You were absolutely right when you asked if we are pushing it's boundaries. Honestly, I don't know the answer. But I hope that when we get to that point, society will be able to realize it and learn stand without technology.
When I finished reading chapter five of Smarter Than You Think I wasn't thinking that we were careless because I saw it more like dependency. We definitely are becoming more dependent on the Internet because it's so tempting to search something on your phone when it's right in your pocket. The downside of becoming too dependent on the technology is that we won't be able to think for ourselves which kind of scares me after reading Brave New World. However, I still see the benefits of having such a handy resource because it saves so much time.
ReplyDeleteThompson also discusses memory in chapter two. He says that our memories are often misremembered, so some people have gone to the extreme by tracking their every move using cameras. Those people have said that it's easy to save everything, but it's hard to find certain information when they need it. This even happens to me when I search things on google. I often have difficulty finding what I need on the internet and it frustrates me. Am I already too dependent on the internet? I see it more as us being dependent on technology than being careless in our daily lives.
I definitely think that we are very dependent on technology because it has become the most convenient way to get information. I don't think that this is necessarily a bad thing because a lot of the time people do retain the information they read online (assuming that the information is true and that people aren't just skimming over it). Technology can make you careless depending on how you use it. I just think that a lot of people are using it in a way which gives off the impression that information is more abundant that it actually is, which makes people feel like they don't need to memorize it. The thing is, they probably won't. Like Clive Thompson said, back when we were an oral-based society, a good memory could take you very far. We have trillions of pages of written information at our fingertips, so it's not really that necessary to try to remember every little detail we read. It just isn't necessary.
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