Typecast from 1937 Underwood Universal Portable Typewriter

Is Digital Technology Harming Us?

Is digital technology making us dumber, or should we say are losing our skills because of our one dimensional approach towards digital technology? I was having this discussion with my friend over dinner in a restaurant. Though, the conversation did not extend much beyond a few opinions exchanged, but it has given us some food for thought for the time being. While, it is true that newer technology must be embraced, it is also important that we keep our command over other skills that were present before their digital avatars or digital alternatives arrived. Case in the point being, things like writing with a pen, writing and posting letters to friends and relatives with exception for using them in more formal communication like business and jobs instead of emails. The proponents of digital technology claim that newer the technology, the faster it is and hence more efficient as we save more time and perhaps money and there is no doubt in accepting this truth. Earlier, information was hard to get and was available through the periodicals, newspapers, local libraries etc. Now, we can access any information through the click of a button on our latest PCs and laptops from the comfortable confines of our homes. Emails are sent and responses are received almost instantaneously in most of the cases. 

I am of the opinion, that technology should make our job, our chores easier to do instead of making us wholly reliant on it, while we, in turn lose skills that are critical at personal and person to person level. The technology has also negatively affected our attention span and has reduced us to being social recluse. We are in the crowd but most of the the times we are hypnotically gazing into our tiny and personal boxes of technological wizardry than with any real person to person interaction. For example, a group of friends sitting together and checking their smartphones, while waiting for the food to be served on their table in the restaurant and such a behavior is not only limited to public places but also at homes where people do not mind checking their smartphone, when at someone's place for a gathering. Instead of using the technology to our advantage, we are sadly letting technology to frame the personality of our social behavior as well as our own inherent personality. 

So, when did I realize myself that I have become a victim of advanced technology? One day, a colleague brought me a paper on which I had hand written a note. He wanted to me clarify as to what I had written and imagine my embarrassment, when I myself could not figure out what I had written. It was one of the most embarrassing moments in a long time. My hand writing had deteriorated over the years ever since I started using computer assisted writing, to the point of almost being termed as ineligible. That day, I made up my mind not to rely on virtual words that I type on my laptop/PC screen and I need to go back and re-discover the art and skill of handwriting and perhaps make my life more analog (more physical and more mechanical) than digital, where ever possible.

The Friday Typecast