...Or are we getting more efficient?
This is a question I have often asked in the past couple of years. This is not the typical procrastinator-couch-potato's lazy I'm talking about, its the one where we (which here refers to our generation) are being offered everything on a platter, a one-click byte-sized-platter.
Right from 24-hour online banking to 24-hour grocery stores, from home delivered pizza's to file-your-taxes-online, from e-commerce websites to match-making on the Internet, there are a plethora of examples out there which seem like a boon to the average individual. Is it really?
Further, I take this argument home, to India, where inspite of a steady rate of progress, a lot of systems aren't in place yet. One still has to go to the sabzi mandai (local produce market) to buy vegetables and one still has to stand in the queue to pay the electricity bill each month. Super-stop-n-shop-online and using credit cards to securely pay monthly bills is still a far cry for people there.
I have lived through both these "worlds" and that's what gets me thinking. I have to admit that I owe these conveniences and flexibility to technology and intelligent ideas and I truly cannot imagine life without them. Its an addiction for which rehab centres are in the process of "Coming Soon".
However, what are we doing with all that extra time we save? Are we really gaining efficiency?
We seem to be harnessing the true potential of the Internet, but at the cost of what? Are these point-and-click services severing human relations by replacing in-person with on-line?
Is technology replacing the otherwise active lifestyle we could have had? Do we have that maturity to embrace the technology and become competent enough to take on the responsibility we are being handed?
What do you think?
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8 comments:
The tech convieniences have creeped into Indian lifestyles as well/eg elec bills,groceries online etc.Yes we are not making efficient use of the time saved.Cheers
Well said...and we ppl in India here should be careful now that we have seen what has happened to the west...person to machine contact is more than person to person not wholly but mostly due to the mechanisation of even the basic chores. We should selectively incorporate the machines in our lives while seeing to it that our social behaviour is not hampered in any way. Of course people may choose to differ ..:)
I see exactly what you are saying... Like you, I enjoy the quick pace of technology at a click of a button as well as the snail pace of interraction with human contact... I think the bottom line lies in finding a balance that works for you... I like this world that I have chosen, where I can choose to shake hands with a person or a machine, depending on how I feel that day.
This was a very good introspection...hmmmm...are we getting lazy..?? If I were to be absolutely honest I would say "Yes". The best thing I can think of whenever I am free is either watch my favorite TV channel or surf on the internet or least fall asleep. I am one of the blessed few who can fall asleep anytime anywhere. Well, but giving it a little more thought. I came to the conclusion that, is this lazing around. You are doing mundane physical things better by a click of a mouse and hence saving time to do what you like to do most. For me it also means that I get to spend more time talking to my husband or if you have children you get to cater to their needs more efficiently.
I wonder where we are going and where we will end up... I wonder..
I take these tech convieniences in a very positive way. I am a working mother living in America. Life is very busy so there is no time to be lazy for me. Having these online banking and online bill payments help me tremendously! I can't imagine being without it. In India, the life is not as convenient as here in the US, but that doesn't mean that there are no lazy people in India. Most women don't work, they have help with cleaning and cooking and eating out every weekend, they should have a LOT of free time. What do you think they do with that time? Taking afternoon naps and watching LOTS of TV. So, my conclusion is, that technology doesn't make you lazy......you choose to be lazy. Let's not worry about these machings and online clikings will make us lazy....let's go out to take a nice long walk, let's go camping instead of staying in 5 star hotels, let's talk to our loved ones instead of watching TV for a day, make sure to clean up your room the day you are ordering Pizza......I can go on and on and on......but, I am sure you got my point! Oh ya, make sure to smile....because that's the only difference between humans and machines!
I wouldn't be scared of these services. I feel I got more efficient by them and could devote my resources to better and bigger causes.
After all, it is upto the people to allocate their time and resources to other activities when their time is freed up from some time-consuming activity which got automated.
Someone allocating(and sometimes overallocating it) the freed up time to their recreation do so as a matter of free-will. I allocate my free time to causes which I feel are worthwhile - meeting friends, family, doing social service. As a result, I may not know whats on the latest episode of the Grey's Anatomy - however, I prefer living "above the influence" of the pop culture.
In today's electronically networked world, ppl may not know their next door neighbor well enough as they might know someone sitting seven seas away. This does not imply any negative trait. Only a choice is being offered to people and ppl are choosing what they derive most of their utility from.
Constant improvement will be marking the cornerstone of human race. These improvements in productivities/efficiencies help grow macroeconomically. Labor is put to use for producing more and obviously consuming more.
Finally, I feel ppl who get lazy - do so at their free-will. Those folks would do it anyways - with or without the improvements in efficiencies.
It is eventually the maturity with which one adapts to the new and upcoming technologies.
Some are able to tap into the vast reservoir of potential which technology has to offer, others are simply taking it for granted.
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