Has technology made us lazy?
A participant in a recent class I taught mentioned to me that technologies like GPS navigation systems are making people lazy. She argued that we were losing the ability to perform simple tasks like reading a map. While I didn't agree with her about GPS navigation systems, it did get me to thinking about other technologies.
Take my cell phone for instance. I have 76 contacts stored on my cell phone, many with multiple phone numbers for the contact. At last count, I actually only know the phone number for 2 of these contacts from memory. Why? Because they are just a few clicks away on my cell phone. What's the point of memorizing the number?
Thinking back to when I was in high school, I bet you I knew the phone numbers of at least 20 different people off the top of my head. And by college I had probably added the phone number for the 3 closest pizza delivery restaurants to that list.
Let this be a warning to all of my friends and family. If I don't call you, it might be because I lost my cell phone.
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