Of all the things I've written lately, one article that is attracting world wide attention is the one on how technology is making us lazy. I am shocked at where all the traffic is coming from. It really is the WORLD WIDE WEB. Wow!
Today I got an email from a University student in the U.K., I've removed the name to protect their privacy:
On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 9:20 PM, wrote:
>
> hi,
> I read your article on "Technology making us lazy"...I thought it was very good and broadly thought. I’m emailing because I’m actually choosing this subject as a final year project. I'm at university yes. My question if you have the time is "What do you think is the point of this? Why do you think it would be a good idea for an audience to be aware of it? What would be the target audience?" Can you write back on what you have on this? I’m doing multimedia, so I will be making a 30 min video of this. Haven't decided yet on whether to make it as a documentary or little movie but will after more research.
>
> Many thanks
Hello,
Thank you for your compliment on my article. I'm glad you enjoyed it. The piece was basically a rant and I was quite surprised to see that it had gotten as popular as it has had. I've had people reading the article from quite literally all over the world. So, the target audience is basically anybody who spends their time reading blogs, I suppose.
It is quite ironic that people sit at all hours in front of some sort of technological device and spend time reading rants about how technology helps them waste time. It's kind of like watching a cat chase its own tail just because it's behind them. There has really been so much said and done about this already that if you are going to do a final year university project about it I really think you should incorporate the following things:
- humour: the irony of a multimedia project that ridicules its own essence despite taking itself so seriously
- history: the first computer ever created was the calculator. This was a marked improvement over the abacus. Now, most kids can't multiply 7 x7 without using one and have full professorial support to bring calcs. into exam rooms.
- doomsayers: incorporate sci-fi commentary from genres such as cyberpunk. You should be able to find clips from movies based on the works of William Gibson, and of course he isn't the only one.
- current state: there have been many studies in recent months about the detriment of multi-tasking. That it is actually reducing the average person's ability to be effective at individual tasks because when they are doing many things at once, they are not doing any of them all that well. Also, that there is a proportional link between the level of technology available and the level of stress being suffered.
- forecast for the future: are people likely to scale back? Revolt? force a revolution where users are able to focus more on actually doing what they need to do rather than becoming too distracted by the tools they are using?
- it may also add credibility to your argument if you pump in some facts and figures regarding how much of a typical corporate budget is spent these days on sustaining its IS/IT resources and interview some CFOs/CEOs regarding their perceived value of this investment as compared to how they were doing business 25 to 30 years ago. Ask them if they feel the trade off is worth it.
And above all, remember Homer Simpson at work in the power plant. As I said, there has already been a lot of thought behind this issue so there is a rich amount of resources to draw on. Good luck with your project.
On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 11:41 PM, <> wrote:
> Hey,
>
> Thank you very much for your advice. It is great. It is actually in parallel to >some of my ideas towards it. Especially the humur and history.....
> I never knew about the dilemas people have on this subject. I wanted to do >something to do with technology and I thought of its drawbacks. So I asked the >question if it making us lazy? Now that Im researching on it I found your article >quite interesting. I took its frame under consideration because I think it is >right. Obviously I have a target audience different to that of yours. I asked you >the question because yesterday my project supervizor analyzed my idea and said that >it is solid but find out "what is the point?" find the question "Why are you basing >your final year project on this?" .....
>
> I have quite a simple answer.
>
> " Well, the point is that some people aren’t aware of this. They aren’t aware >that technology with all its rewards by making our lives easier, can actually give >us the option to be lazy. It is making things easier, but through that it can lead >to you eliminating activity. Nobody should be inactive because there are great >disadvantages that come with that. You lose your sharpness, creativity, may become >obese and so on. So choosing to actually go shopping rather than transacting it >over the internet is a better idea. This is what I’m arguing and trying to make >you aware of the subject. But it is your choice. "
> So my target is towards people that aren't aware of their behaviours. To make >them think and make better choices on this case.
> What do you think of that?
> Appriciated.
> Thanks a lot
> Take care.
I think that there is a far bigger consequence to society, as a whole, than the harm to the individual. Actually, online shopping is a positive because it enables the shopper to make better decisions and force vendors to improve the quality of their products and be more price competitive.
Instead I would focus on things like gaming, gambling, social networking sites where people engage in chatting with people that they don't count among their inner circle, anything to do with basically time wasting tasks. Things people would not do in a different way.
The detriment to becoming technology sloths is the quality of output. For instance, search engines have their own agenda as to what results are returned and the information found online may or may not be reliable. However, too many students rely on the Internet as their only source of information. This is raising a lazy generation of students who will enter the workforce and be unable to do true due diligence. These will be the doctors, lawyers, leaders, and educators of tomorrow.
Ultimately, a lazy society is one that has lost the taste for a good fight and will become unable to face true adversity. It is, in effect another symptom of the decline of the Western Civilization.
Your target audience should be high school and university students, as well as those responsible for educating and guiding them. There is a very real threat to our way of life and our ability to advance and thrive as a society if those that are responsible for driving us forward are not equipped with the skills to do so.
