Technology has enslaved us and is destroying the very fabric of humanity as we become digitally dumber.

It is an interesting time to be alive in the world today. This era we live in will be remembered as the (digital) information age. How amazing it is that we can communicate and connect with humans around the globe. We can access an infinite amount of information at the touch of a few buttons. Anything we’ve ever wanted to know is within reach.

Heck, we can even talk into our phones and ask anything and our phones will respond back. Gone are the days when we would have to spend countless tiring hours in a library scouring through volumes of encyclopedias or pages upon pages of records.

​We rely greatly on the World Wide Web, and it would be devastating to our society if we lost it. Fortunately for us, I don’t see that happening anytime soon—or ever.

I’d argue that although we have everything we will ever need to know in the palm of our hands, we have in effect become stupider. These days, we can’t focus for sh*t, our brains are overly stimulated, we have lost touch with ourselves and nature, and even language has become more dull.

We don’t have to look far for an example—think navigation. We can’t read maps, let alone figure out our directional compass, without the aid of the voice telling us where to go.

​As a species, our evolutionary progress is parallel to our technological advancements. From telegraphs to telephones, typewriters to lightweight laptops. Technology has created a new world that has made our lives a whole lot easier, but relying solely on technology comes at a price.

When we stop training our minds, we stop building our memory.

By doing so, I believe we diminish our ability to solve life’s problems, and we become more and more dependent on machines. Our brains stop producing pathways and building internal networks to teach us how to solve problems.

Only time will tell what we can expect of the future.

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Author: Alexis Alvarez

Image: Courtesy of Editor

Apprentice Editor: Aga Wyrzykowska; Editor: Toby Israel

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