Is technology making us idiots ?

A proof that technology has made us idiots

This post is in accordance to an earlier note  (here post Are They Destroying us ? as this piece come from my personal log ) by me 'Are they destroying us ?'. There I quoted Einstein as the originator of the quote "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots." However I was a little bit skeptic about this quote and its meaning, I didn't gave much thought to it (this quote was viral on social media). But when I searched that quote in Google (so I don’t have to write it!!). An interesting fact came out, that Einstein probably never said something like that. Other thing pointed out was that however it looks great this quote is actually inane(see this link). In the context it is popularize is actually more silly, they show half a dozen picture were cellphone has taken priority over the human sitting next (like a date, or a dinner) and saying that the day Einstein feared has come. Now let me say that most of the people most of the time do chatting on cell, so ultimately it's only a different kind of human interaction. And though if we accept that here technology has taken precedence over human interaction, how the hack chatting (or surfing) on phone make you idiot and listening to your girlfriend's boring talk make you Einstein ??? Actually, fundamental thing that clicks me is our excessive reliance on technology. Before you have to do many task which required knowledge and smartness, which are now taken care by technology (like, a dozen spelling mistakes as I write this). Technology has also served as excellent distraction from the meaningful things (for me at least it has). But it has also given plenty meaningful things in return. Now if people are attracted more toward the idiotic one than the meaningful one than it means that they always wanted to be idiots, there is one trait of technology it doesn't give what is right, it gives what people want (a penicillin and a nuclear bomb both are gift of technology).

I also found a good thought from yahoo answer that, Just because something in the future is different and future people don't know how to do the things we do now, doesn't mean their idiots, just means they have found other means to do the same thing, or this thing is not needed anymore.



At the end of the day

What proves the quote itself (that we are generation of idiots) is the fact that something silly and incorrect became so popular and everyone accepted it without giving a thought on it.

Are they destroying us ?

Sometime earlier this year I had discussion with Krushna, that 'how much technology contribute towards making us dumb ?', there is a famous quote by Albert Einstein that "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.". Today I realize that to some extent. What happened was that power was down due to rain and bad weather. So my pc was down, the lappy's battery was already dead, phone was up but again Wi-Fi was down. So I brought up the book 'Brief History of Time', and read it for about an hour and half. It is since long I read a book for such a long and I enjoyed it. Usually what happens is I fall down for easier options like PC game or a series. However they have and will play a crucial role in making me what I am, I have felt for long that I am not giving enough time for reading and other such kind of activities.

The name 'rational fool'

lOGICal ?

I haven't been asked any question about the name 'rational fool' or 'logical fool', because of the limited audience of blog. But I am going to explain it anyway. First of all going backward the word 'fool', now a point should be noted that at micro level it  does not mean lack of intelligence. I know that, I am not less fortunate in terms of intelligence. Robert J. Sternberg states that "Foolishness is the lack or failure of wisdom and of making proper careful choices. In this sense, it differs from stupidity, which is the lack of intelligence". But the major dilemma here is not that about how an intelligent person can be fool, it's how a rational person can be a fool. Any rational decision taken with pure logic, can be wrong horribly wrong as we human are not omniscient, we have a limited view of environment and so any rational decision can be wrong. A superb example was found in the our reference book of Artificial Intelligence(Russel-Norwig, Pearson 2e). If I am walking on the pavement of the road and on the other side I see and old friend also walking. I do not have any hurry and he also seem to be relaxed, so its rational to go on the other side and meet him. I check on both the side before crossing the road, its empty. Now crossing the road is a fully rational decision. But as I start crossing the road, a aero plane flying 35,000 feet above me loses a cargo. Which eventually falls on me at the middle of the road. Needless to say, what happens to me. Now this decision to meet an old friend and crossing the road, however horribly wrong(we will define right decision as the one beneficiary to me, and wrong the opposite) was not 'foolish'. But in real life, sometimes decision made with logic and rationality in mind turns out to be foolish, or feel foolish afterwards. Another meaning which was not exactly in my mind when acquiring this name, is ardent enthusiast about something. But it can be relevant here.