Pitfalls of Technology

I've noticed that our surge in technology over the past 30 years has had some very sad effects upon the youth who have fully embraced it, to the point of ignoring the world around them.
Just about every day I see someone so focused on their phone that they walk out into traffic, nearly becoming a victim of their own lack of awareness.
I see families sitting in restaurants, all looking at their phones and not interacting with each other, it seems to be a great disconnect via engrossment with what amounts to a computer screen.
I see wrecks and near wrecks caused by people not paying attention to driving because they are talking or texting on their phone.
I even know people who can't do simple math (addition or subtraction) without bringing up the calculator on their phone.
Store clerks can no longer make change without the register telling them how much to give back to the paying customer.

It would seem that Albert's greatest fear has come true. People have become so engrossed and dependent upon technology that they have forgotten everything else.


Redhawk

edited because I stepped over the line and I did not intend that.

Besides too many car wrecks I once observed 2 women walking along the sidewalk together. Each talking on their phones. When they got closer I realized they were talking to each other on their electronic leashes phones. Seemed like a total waste of a couple billion dollars of satellites.

Then there are selfies with wild bears. What part of that seems like a good idea?

Or filming some old lady being mugged so it can become a YouTube video. Really? Put the phone down & go help the poor woman.

It is a complex subject and it usually boils down to just how much technology is enough and whether you perceive your use of technology as beneficial to you and your lifestyle and philosophy.

For example, Amazon is built on a tremendous amount of technology - from package management, pricing, sales conduits, deliveries, tracking, inventory, you name it.

Most people who move to a rural area to "homestead" (usually the boonies have less services and shopping opportunities), especially in the first 3-5 years of their homesteading existence - come to rely (or be dependent on) Amazon, Walmart.com or whatever else online shopping tool that provides the best prices and the quickest delivery.

In this instance, these same people would be hard pressed to deride the technology they find beneficial. Even when many of them come to DEPEND on said tools/technologies to survive. That's one extreme, in my mind. In fact, it is a common mistake to make.

Now, you see a family in the restaurant looking at their individual phones and you immediately think that it is an extreme use of technology because it is impeding family dynamics, disconnecting people, so on and so on. It is an extreme that is negative in your mind.

However, is your dependence on Amazon any better than someone's dependence on their phone?

Or people depending on their phone in life threatening emergencies when they should be fleeing or taking other immediate action.

Instead they grab their phone, put their brain on hold, and wait (even when help can't possibly arrive in time).