4 Ways Technology Is Making Me Dumb

I think it’s safe to say most everyone thinks technology is great. Even if you’re one that gets frustrated with your computer, you can at least appreciate older technologies like, say, electricity. To say I’m not very tech savvy is laughable. I’m less than remedial when it comes to hi tech devices. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy surfing the internet and using my iPhone for just about everything. Everything except the calendar. I’m old school paper calendar alllll day. The dots on the phone calendar stress me out. As much as I love most technology though, I fear it’s making me dumb. Here are 4 ways technology isn’t helping me grow my brain cells.

1. Driving

Ever since I got a newer car I’m surprised at how I ever drove my old car. My new car is so smart. It beeps when the front of my car gets too close to something. It beeps if there’s something behind me. The beeps even get faster as I get closer to objects, alerting me that I’m about to hit something. I even have a handy dandy back-up camera so I don’t run over the kids’ bikes, or worse, the kids. It’s wonderful…mostly. I gotta tell you, I drove a car recently that didn’t do all these things and I was freaking out like I was going to hit something. Parking was so stressful! I had no idea how much I rely on that dadgum beeping to let me know what’s around me. What’s funny is that just 9 short months ago I’d never had anything other than mirrors to help me drive and I did just fine thankyouverymuch. How is it that in 9 months I now feel inept to use my mirrors to help me park my car or back up? My smart car is now smarter than me. Or so it’s led me to believe.

2. Directions

What did we do before Google maps? We used actual paper maps. These were hard times. We would get directions off the internets then print them to have in the car. Or for the really old school folks, you kept an atlas in your car. I remember my parents having these in their cars growing up. Do you know what people do with actual maps now? They frame them and hang them in their homes. When I use Google maps to get me somewhere I’m like a robot. I will do anything master Google girl says. She tells me to turn, I do it. She tells me to stay left, I don’t question her. I trust her to get me wherever I’m going. The problem is usually I’m only halfway paying attention to what I’m actually doing. I’m just following instructions. If you asked me how to get back to the destination I’m not 100% certain that I could. I’m just a robot following orders.

3. Phone numbers

I’m going to go ahead and throw it out there that if you have given me your phone number post 1998, I have no idea what it is. The only exception would be my husband’s number. I am so quick to plug in a number on my phone where it lives in my Contacts for eternity I don’t bother to memorize it. There are still a few numbers I know by heart and it’s literally because I learned them when I was a child. We had to memorize so many things when we were younger didn’t we? We rely so much on the internet for information, we forget we have brains that can function to store data also. I inadvertently don’t learn things because I know it’s in my phone.

4. Texting

I know all the English teachers of the world shudder when thinking about texting vernacular. It’s out of control. It’s gotten so bad that people are even saying the abbreviations in real conversations like their words. OMG! Sometimes when I’m writing a note I catch myself writing like I text. I’ve tried to quit texting in shorthand just because it’s giving me bad writing habits but it’s hard! It’s so much quicker to just shorten words and phrases to get the point across. I’m not sure that limiting my every thought to 140 characters is doing me any favors.

Don’t get me wrong; I love all the forms of technology I just mentioned. I don’t want to live without any of them. I like having someone tell me where to go when I’m driving. I like that my car doesn’t want to get in a wreck so it helps me avoid it. I like that my phone is the keeper of all the numbers in my life. I also like that I can tell someone thank you with 3 letters instead of 8. These are great things that would blow 1965’s mind! These things were made to make our lives easier, which they mostly do. I’m just here to say that in making things easier, it’s making me dumber. Obviously I have no problem with this since I’m not renouncing my use of these gadgets. I just thought the world (or 50 of you) should know that my life might be easier but my brain is getting mushier all the time.

What technology is making you dumb? Leave me a comment and let me know!

-Courtney

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