Technology-1 Step Forward 2 Steps Back

   Have you ever heard the song "Mo Money Mo Problems"? The premise is that the more money you acquire (something that seems like a desirable thing) the more problems that come along with it. It seems like a paradox to be sure, but I was thinking about it the other day and I believe the same could be said about technology. Think about it: Technological advances further things like education, entertainment, information sharing, and comfort but at the same time they cause more frustration, sadness, pain, and discomfort than at any time in history. 

     Here is an example: In the year 1748 the first refrigerator was introduced to the public. Before that food was kept cold by simply attaching it to a string and dipping it in a nearby spring-fed brook. Now, at the time the refrigerator seemed like a pretty great idea, but little did inventor William Cullen know that this invention would almost lead to the downfall of an entire civilization centuries later. Billions of dollars of food are lost every year from refrigerator failure while other people starve in the street. Obesity runs rampant in America due to fridge sizes steadily increasing and the fact that we only have to take a few steps to eat (instead of running down and savagely slaughtering everything you must eat). Have you ever heard of a brook failing or seen an overweight Pilgrim with high blood pressure? This would certainly be an example of "Mo Technology Mo Problems".

     Or how about computers? Do you remember when the internet first came out? You would type in a web address, go to bed for the evening, then wake up to find the page finally loaded up. No one thought this was a problem because we were just happy to have the internet and, at the time, that wasn't considered "slow". Nowadays we expect even the lowest-end computers to download an entire movie in under a second, and if it takes longer...let's just say bad things happen. Have you ever noticed that the faster computers get the higher murder, suicide, teen pregnancy, and depression rates all get? Coincidence...I think not.

     Other than the added stress technology puts on us here are some other downfalls: Price-When you buy a new gadget generally speaking the price decreases 50% every day it is on the market, but on the other hand it becomes 50% more obsolete for every day on the market. So if you buy early you spend a fortune but if you wait you have basically bought a fancy paper weight. Ignorance-Our kids don't really need to learn much of anything these days because everything is on the internet, which is available almost everywhere. But what if the internet goes down one of these days and we lose access to all that readily available info? Have you ever seen Terminator? It doesn't end well for us.

     Anyway, I'm not saying all technology is bad, just most of it. Be careful when you are getting yourself all worked up for the newest iPad 17 that is supposed to be able to create matter. Keep your expectations low and expect to spend a lot. Also, expect whatever it is you are buying to fail almost immediately. Following these simple guild lines will ensure that, instead of blindly depending on technology as a crutch, it will simply remain a non-essential aspect of life you can take or leave! Thank you and goodnight!

*I would like to add that even in the creation of this very post my computer (which, sadly I have come to depend on) was acting up and caused me such grief that I had to be admitted to the hospital due to irregular heartbeat and extraordinarily high blood pressure to which the doctor informed me I had lost 17 months off the end of my life. Please don't let this happen to you!