Reflection #10

This positing is actually two reflections in one, because I had two separate thoughts occur to me at separate times in the last hour. However, if I tried, I could probably make a connection.

I have heard of people (usually older folk who frown upon technology) who say that nowadays we can have conversations with others without even seeing or talking to them. This is in regards to e-mailing and texting. I asked Adam, while watching a commercial for the cell phone with "more texting capabilities," if he thought people at the turn of the century frowned upon the creation of the telephone, because of its power to eliminate the need for face-to-face interaction. Interesting thought, I thought. :)

Here is the second reflection:

Just a while ago, I came upon an article for something called "Nature Deficit Disorder." No joke. I thought the website was kidding. Unfortunately, it was not. Apparently there is now a label for kids who don't go outside. One article states, "With the advent of the computer, video games and television children have more and more reasons to stay inside, 'The average American child spends 44 hours a week with electronic media.'"

Another article, Outside Agitators, says, "Though the average American child spends 44 hours a week with electronic media, we can't blame the Web or iPods, says Richard Louv, a gray-haired father of two. More pertinent are "the over-structuring of childhood" -- which leaves scant bug-watching time between soccer practices -- and such community-design trends as streets with no sidewalks. The big trouble, though, is fear, fueled by the news media. "Parents are scared to death of stranger-danger," Louv says -- even though abductions are rare, and seldom perpetrated by strangers. Over the past three decades, we've placed children under "virtual house arrest." He added, "We might be approaching a time when it is no longer normal or expected for kids to go outside to watch the leaves move."

The article continues to touch on subjects such as obesity (sitting at the XBoX makes it worse, running outside makes it better), and concern for the environment. What will happen to our State Parks and animal habitats if we are raising a generation of kids who have no appreciation for those things?

So here is my attempt to connect the two:

Is technology really that good for us? Sure, it advances society, puts information at our finger tips, and allows us to stay in communication with others in ways that we never imagined, but what good will it really do for us in the end if in the year 2056 we are just a bunch of blobs sitting in front of our life machines, suffering from depression and lack of human interaction (not through a computer or a cell phone)? I realize that's a very bold statement, but I say it in hopes that you will understand I am playing devil's advocate. Do you think technology is leading us in a healthy direction?

(PS. Please know that this is not me saying "I think technology is bad," because it would be awfully hypocritical for me to say so after resarching the information on the internet, then posting it electronically on my blog.) :)