A couple days ago, we discussed all the things we take for granted these days that weren't around when our parents were our age. The creation of internet, email, cell phones, texting, ipods, digital cable, TiVo...all these modern day technologies we take for granted, and it got me thinking...Is all this so called "progress" really helping us? I always assumed that all of these things were making our society more advanced, happier; I'm not sure why I always equated these words together, i just did.. But after really thinking about it, I don't think they really have any connection. Don't get me wrong, i'm just as big of a fan as my cell phone and ipod as much as the next person, but i think that in what we've gained with these technologies, we've also lost some things.
I remember one time in seventh grade, my history teacher was talking to us about how when he was a kid, all the kids in the neighborhood would get together outside and play big games of baseball or capture the flag in the park. But i don't really see that happening nowadays, what with television and videogames, there's just not as much of a motivation to get outside and do something. It's not that bad-I mean, on both ends kids have fun, which is the point of course; But what we lose to technology is the bonding. Personal connections formed with people. It's the same way with texting. I can't even count all the times i've seen two people sitting together at a restaurant-both texting or talking on the phone. It's as if, with the ability to talk to people far away easier-it's simultaneously become easier to avoid talking to people you're with. So while this new technology is more convenient, is it really any better? Is my generation really happier than my parents' generation was? If not...can it really be considered progress? or just change.
1 comment:
Great Post!
You brought up some excellent points! I would certainly agree that if our generation is not any happier than our parents' generation, we cannot consider that true progress. In fact, that's what I wrote my blog post on, Happiness and Technology. In it, I talked about how actually studies have shown that people in the United States and other developed countries are not any happier than they were decades earlier despite technological advances and increased average income or living conditions. Of the studies I looked at, in the U.S., the Amish were the happiest, just as happy as the Forbes 400. On an international basis, a study showed that Nigeria was the "happiest" country, followed by several central American countries. So, I agree, happiness and technology don't seem to have any correlation (or if any, perhaps a negative one).
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