Are we too dependent on gadgets?
By pinay905
@pinay905 (31)
United States
April 18, 2007 2:31pm CST
I was just thinking of how dependent we have gotten on cell phones, gps and other gadgets...
Is this why we don't know how to read a map and our memory isn't as good because everything is programmed?
I remember back when we didn't have this gadgets...we would have to go home to call someone and look at a map to find out to see how to get to different destinations.
These are great tools to have, but are we abusing it?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@wifeofharvey (1156)
• United States
18 Apr 07
Yes, I think many of us are dependent on our gadgets, and those of us who don't use many of them are judged to be dinosaurs, lolol. We might be, but then most of us can add and subtract, count change correctly, and as you said, read a map.
This has been happening for a long time. 25 years ago I took a chemistry class in college [I was an 'older' student even then], the teacher of the course rebuked me for not using a calculator! I was under the impression that using that sort of aid would have been cheating.
BUT, please do not think that I am anti-technology, there are many wonderful things to use-----but I hope to never lose the other skills I have learned.
1 person likes this
@pinay905 (31)
• United States
19 Apr 07
My dad wouldn't even let me use a calculator through Algebra and Geometry in high school. I was exposed to my first calculator in Pre-cal... Yet, you can give me a sting of numbers consecutively and I can calculate them in my head according to what operation you want me to do.
Technology is good, but should a line be drawn???
@wifeofharvey (1156)
• United States
21 Apr 07
First my apology for not getting back to you on this sooner.
Your father had the right idea I think, and while you probably didn't like it at the time, you are proof of the value of NOT taking too much advantage of technology.
There is much value in our gadgets, but we need to know exactly what we are giving up if we chose to use them exclusively.
An example is the simple process of using a computer as a word processor. I have reached a point in life where my penmanship is not so great. It is a blessing for me to be able to 'write' my letters on computer and print them out, adding a 'real' signature. But----I do know how to write, and I am afraid many younger people really don't know how.
@Stiffler07 (1356)
• United States
18 Apr 07
Let me start by saying great question: I believe we are too dependent on them.
Americans are now the biggest people on the planet, & we have the biggest household pets. Things are really becoming to easy for us. We have become very spoiled:-)
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
18 Apr 07
I think it depends on how the gadgets are used. I used to be a slave to my cellphone until a family emergency made my mother a little nervous and she'd call me on my cellphone when she couldn't reach me at home. I was not going to let my mother's anxiety cause me anxiety, and there were times I needed to get away.
I thought about it.
Even though my boyfriend is in AZ right now and I'm in Guelph Ontario, we know when we are going to contact eachother. We call at certain times, and I rarely leave the city anyway, unless I'm going to see him. I'm pretty predictable, when I'm on my own. LOL So I ditched the cellphone.
Computer? I use my computer to communicate, and to do research, not as my brain. I've always had a good memory to compensate for lousy eyesight. I have to remember where i put things, because I can't just open my eyes and see them.
We are only as dependent as we allow ourselves to be.
Are we dependent on clothes, for example, to cover our bodies, so that others won't see what is natural? It's one thing to keep warm, but if we want to remain "modest," we must depend on pieces of cloth to cover our nakedness.
@pinay905 (31)
• United States
19 Apr 07
Technology and gadgets are definitely a good thing, but I think that too many of us abuse and rely too much...I guess the thing that irks me and I am guilty is when you are grocery shopping talking to a friend about absolutely nothing that pertains to groceries because you just have to talk them...that could probably wait...
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
18 Apr 07
Totally, I mean take it to the simplest level and see the problems we have when the remote control fro the TV doesn't work. I freak out, slamming it against the coffee table, shaking it, and sticking the batteries to my tongue to see if they have any juice left...remember not so long ago when we actually had to get up and go over to the TV?....*GASP*....LOL
1 person likes this
@aribaba (366)
• Indonesia
20 Apr 07
for some peoples could be yes. as for me I don't want to depend on gadgets because I don't like to carry it. and in my place there are a lot ways to avoid using of gadgets. for example if we need to know the directions we could just ask somebody, there are pleasant people here.
aree
http://toysfinder.blogspot.com
