Is Technology Our Savior or Our Saboteur

People who don't believe in the theory of evolution should look at how technology has been affecting us in recent years. What do I mean? Well rather than continuing to evolve, technology is helping to devolve man (and woman) into something less intelligent than in decades past. The fact that it is possible to devolve means that we had to have evolved first and thus, there is some proof for the theory of evolution. So what does this have to do with the state of technology in our world? Simple. The more and more technology seems to be making our lives simpler, the more and more moronic things we seem to do. I don't think any single device is helping to prove this point more than the GPS.

The GPS, short for Global Positioning System, is one of the most revolutionary navigation tools in the world and has made mapquest and Google Maps duck in fear of being permanently replaced. Now call me old fashioned or call me a fool but I think that an over reliance on GPS systems is contributing to many of the problems on the roads these days. Don't believe me? Well just check out the number of news stories you see in the paper or on TV about how someone following GPS directions ended up someplace they didn't intend. There was a couple in New Zealand recently that was headed to the airport to deliver a charity check (about as far from terrorism as you could get) when they followed the directions that were being spouted by their GPS system. Now I know traffic is bad but it must be really bad to get stuck in line to get to the airport terminal behind a passenger jet. Now the plane didn't actually land on the road, rather, the GPS system took the couple on a rather 'unconventional' route and left them on the runway. Needless to say the authorities were a little ticked off.

This is just one of the many incidents out there. Drivers have gone off road and ended up in ditches and creeks. They have ended up in bad parts of town waiting to be mugged or cutting through on roads that haven't been completed. They end up driving in circles while not really getting to their destination when all they could do is look at a map. It may seem foolish what with all the technological advantages of modern GPS systems but if they were one hundred percent foolproof and reliable, then why do our armed forces still teach celestial navigation and map reading? Perhaps because they realize the importance of knowing what to do when we don't have technology. Even though I have used GPS systems to get from point A to point B (and not always in a straight line) I will still do my research and check out the route on a map first as well just so I have some idea of where I'm going and how.

We've come to rely on technology so much that other forms are falling by the wayside. So many people these days don't wear watches. Why? Because they have a clock on their computer at work and they have a fairly accurate timepiece in the form of their cell phone. Excellent! Now what if you don't have access to either one? Uh oh. And speaking of cell phones, when is the last time anyone actually bothered to memorize a phone number? Sure the really really important ones are committed to memory but what about others? Psychologists and doctors concluded long ago (about the time phones were first coming into common usage) that humans had the capacity to relatively easily memorize phone numbers that were up to ten digits long. At one point in time, most anyone could remember a number rather quickly. Now that we have cell phones that can almost instantly save numbers, why bother to memorize them? In point of fact, why even bother to memorize your own? Just give a person a call on their phone (provided they can remember their number) and voila! they have your number now too!

I think technology and its applications are wonderful. We are truly living in an age where almost anything is possible (within reason of course) but is it at a price that is a little higher than we're willing to pay? I am all for progress and I have my own share of technology; heck, I am even guilty of most of the things I have written about here (though I have not ever driven to a dock and parked between land and a boat because my GPS told me to) but I still try to remain a bit old fashioned. Technology is blamed for obesity because so many kids would rather play video games than go out and play. So many parents blame TV for messing up their kids heads. Technology is often a convenient scapegoat; at least until the next latest and greatest gadget comes up that makes life that much easier. Then it's a wonderful thing and the world is once again a wonderful place. Now if only the damn GPS could tell me how to get to the right store to buy it then we'd really be in great shape!