The Dark Side of Convenience: How Technology is Making Us Lazy

Imagine this: Mr. Smith comes home from work at noon. As he steps inside his apartment, the lights automatically turn on. A computerized voice says, "Welcome back, Mr. Smith. I hope you had a good day." The smart TV screen turns on and Twitter feeds appear. The AI voice reads the messages for him, and then it proceeds to read important Facebook messages and emails.

The microwave makes a clanking sound. He had put food in it ten minutes ago. The computer voice notifies him of the dropping temperatures and the storm in the vicinity of his workplace area.

The cradle of human culture and innovations

It seems like humanity was created to live a simple life without sweat or stress. One could argue that all civilizations have been seeking to automate our daily lives. Indeed, all civilizations have contributed to the development of automation. 

Our ancient ancestors domesticated animals and taught them to do some work for us. Animals like donkeys carried heavy loads for humans, while animals like horses and camels served as transportation for humans and goods. Cats and dogs became security beacons. Dogs barked to notify us of strangers in the house, while cats fought and killed snakes before they could harm us.

Human beings seek a soft life through innovations

From using animals as helpers or slaves, humanity went on to introduce machinery to help fewer animals carry heavier loads faster. Humans invented wheels, which helped to bring about the invention of cart. Carts, with either humans or cargo on board, were pulled by horses or donkeys towards the cargo or passengers' destination. Horses or donkeys served as the engine, while the cart mechanism was mechanization. Whether the machine or cart was made of wood or metal, it was still mechanization.

After using animals for doing our work, we began mechanization. Image: Michelle Raponi

 Since horses, donkeys, and camels merely served as engines for mechanization, humans began to experiment with mechanization that did not require animal input. This step of mechanization was where we were becoming a fully mechanized species.

We began to experiment with our understanding of wheels and spindles, and we developed gears. This brought forth the years of the mechanical age. From that knowledge, humans have been experimenting with all different kinds of machines to transport weight around. We are talking about manufacturing machines, cars, and airplanes.

Now we are at the epitome of human civilization. We are finally able to automate almost everything. Instead of reading, we let the computer read for us. Instead of writing, we let the computer write for us. We let it calculate mathematical or chemical formulas, and we let it draw maps of construction structures. It's like we are no longer doing anything. It's like in a few years from now, we will not know how to do these things that made us superior species a few thousand years ago.

How our attitude as we use technology harm humanity and make us lazy

Technology was created to be our helper. It was created to help us extend our abilities beyond what we could comprehend. But as technology becomes smarter, we are becoming dumber. Technology is making us lazy in the sense that we are failing to perform a simple mathematical calculation or to write a correct English paragraph because we already know that Microsoft Word's built-in algorithm will detect errors and help us rectify them, or Grammarly will rectify them all, or a chatbot or an AI writer will help rectify our errors.

So, basically, we humans are at the stage where we are beginning to fail to sustain what our forefathers began working on five thousand years ago. We are letting down our guts because the work that needs to be done by us, we simply want it to be done by the computer. That is the dark side of convenience that we get through our technologically advanced age. 

The convenience our human ancestors sought in technology

As much as we are witnessing the dark side of technological convenience being rolled out in our daily lives, it must be noted that technology is not at fault. Technology is merely a tool. It can’t do good or evil, it can only do what the user seeks to do.

Iron Man aka Tony Stark, by Canva AI

Let us take for example the great Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man, of the Marvel’s comics. Tony Stark's suit is a perfect example of how technology can be used to enhance our abilities. It gives him superhuman strength, speed, and durability. It also allows him to fly and shoot repulsor rays. Without the suit, Tony Stark would be just a normal man. But with the suit, he is a superhero.

The same can be said for technology in our own lives. It can enhance our abilities in many ways. For example, we can use technology to learn new things, communicate with people all over the world, and automate tasks. But like any tool, technology can also be used for bad. If we are not careful, we can become dependent on technology and lose our own abilities.

It's important to find a balance between using technology to enhance our abilities and using it to become dependent on it. We should use technology to make our lives easier and more productive, but we should also make sure that we don't let it take away our independence.

Conclusion

Technology has made our lives easier in many ways. However, it is important to be aware of the potential downsides of convenience, such as becoming lazy and losing our ability to perform basic tasks. We should strive to use technology in a way that enhances our lives, rather than taking away our independence.