Technology's Impact on Humanity

"Has technology really advanced us human beings? Or is it that the technology is advancing past us?"

Does that wrinkle your brain? Well, it did mine! A devoted Twitter pal and follower submitted this question to me when I called upon the Twitterverse to give me a topic on which to blog. Not one to ignore the requests of my fans, I will address this topic in this new blog while I patiently await my Cinnabon (product plug!).

In my humble opinion, I do believe that technology has advanced the human race. I frequently find myself wondering at work when the wireless Internet goes down and we're waiting for IT to fix it, just what in the hell people would do at work before the Internet. How did they cope? Did everyone have a book or some needlepoint at their desk for the slow times? How did you pretend to be productive when you were bored and your boss was watching you? You can have a Word document open at all times on your work computer and give the impression that you're working on something. Back in the day, if that typewriter wasn't going, well then son, you were up the creek without a paddle!

Think about it - when you're at work and you have a lunch break or need to stop thinking about work things, what do you do? I'm willing to bet that you open up your Internet browser and check out a news website (or your favorite blog - this one! - hahaha) to see what's going on in the world, or at least your portion of the world. I'm sure most folks have ordered something from online at work too - either for themselves or for the office. Back in the day, you'd have to get on the phone with the local paper supply company to order those 20 reams of paper. Now you just go to an office supply website and get everything from paper to coffee to pens to, well, whatever you want.

Because of all the technology available to us in the current age, we can tweet from the dinner table, check Facebook from the beach, take video of people doing stupid stuff while we're out and about, etc. But just because this technology has advanced the human race, I'm not necessarily sold on the fact that the technology has been a turn for the better in all instances.

Have you ever seen the TV ad for Macy's when all the celebrities who have lines at Macy's sit down for a "family" dinner? There's an extended version of this where Martha Stewart takes away Mariah Carey's cell phone and says something witty like, "We don't Tweet while we eat." Let's be honest, because of technology, more people get killed while driving because some idiot has to talk or text and drive. Because of technology, even I, a devoted lover of all things news, can find the 24/7/365 news coverage of every little thing just a bit overkill. Honestly, I don't need Breaking News updates a la Twitter regarding how many women Tiger Woods slept with. By the same token, I do appreciate Breaking News updates a la Twitter on things like the situation in Haiti or the war in Afghanistan. Because of technology, I think we have generally all become a little bit more impatient with each other.

That being said, because of technology, we can diagnose and cure certain types of cancers which, as little as 15 years ago, would have meant a death sentence. Because of technology, helmets and special swimsuits can cut down Olympic athletes times in their respective sports by hundredths of seconds - which can be the difference between silver and gold.

To address the second part of the question asked, "Or is it that the technology is advancing past us," I think we're on the borderline here. When I think about how quickly we've gone from the standard cell phone used in the late 90's to the standard cell phone used today, I'm a little bit shocked. You pretty much need something like a BlackBerry, iPhone, or Droid to get by in life now. Unless you are Jack Nicholson. Jack does not have a cell phone. I'm pretty sure he's the only celebrity who can get away with that, too. When you're Jack Nicholson, you don't have to worry about being in touch with the world. The world has to be worried about being in touch with Jack Nicholson.

I guess in the past 2 to 3 years, I've noticed that it's starting to get more and more difficult to keep up with all the latest technology. It used to be easy. You'd have 6 months or so to get used to a new type of technology. Now, everything is changing super fast and once you think you've mastered the art of how to use a new app on your phone, there's a better app, and OH, by the way, your new cell phone that you bought 6 months ago is up for it's own exhibit at the Smithsonian on early technology.

Tough question. Hopefully my thoughts did it justice. If you have a topic you'd like me to blog about, follow me on Twitter (@incidentreport) and tweet it to me, baby!

- The Incident