by Joseph Branch

Created on: September 19, 2008

Does technology impoverish the mind? Generally I would have to say no to this question, however, with the concept of "technology" being a broad descriptive term that encompasses pretty much any thing that we might use to accomplish work, I find it difficult to simply leave it at that. It would be much more appropriate to consider that; "Advancements in technology do not have the potential to impoverish the mind.".

Technology in itself only performs the work we ask of it. Over the centuries technological developments in have eased the difficulties of survival for our species. The vast majority of technology has actually stimulated thought and ideas leading to greater technologies. Take the ability to create fire at will. This seemingly innocuous technology has led to untold amounts of advancement for Mankind. Cooking, metalworking, home heating and personal security are only a few areas that began with this ability when it was new. It also fostered creativity to such an extent that certain aspects of our lives previously satisfied by a roaring fire are now obsolete. We are now able to cook without fire and I don't know anyone who still uses fire for personal security outside of those who enjoy camping or work in remote outdoor places where no other options are available.

Each new technology developed has led to many new developments as our creativity takes what's been learned and applies the concepts to other problems. Mankind also continues to seek out ways to improve current solutions to the original problem leading to even more new technologies. The possibilities are truly endless.

When we consider all of the technology we now use to accomplish tasks in our lives, it is difficult to imagine that it has the capacity to impoverish the mind when it takes advancements in education in order for individuals in our society to learn how to not only maintain what we've created, but to further the knowledge and advance it beyond what it is. Even the laziest couch potato is a far more advanced thinker than the guy who took a piece of flint and struck it against a rock, finding that it catches things on fire.

Odds are he accidentally dropped the flint and saw a spark hit some kindling and thought it was cool. When he tried to do it on purpose, which for that point in time showed vast amounts of imagination, it took some trial and error to get it right, to get a consistent result when ever he, (or she), struck a flint to rock. Thus he learned, not only that he could create fire, but could develop a procedure that would allow anyone to do it.

Then one of the kids run into the cave, tripping over the mammoth haunch momma is working on for dinner, knocking it into the fire. Boy was papa upset about that, he'd had to take time from his fire creation project to kill the darn thing and now the meat is ruined. Well perhaps not, it smells pretty good really. There was nothing else left to eat so lets make do with this. Thus advances the learning process.

Technology, exploration, advancement, the need to improve our lifestyles, these things are what motivate us not just as individuals, but as a society. Driven initially by an instinctive desire to simply survive, technology has become an integral part of our lives and expanded our minds far beyond what it was thought capable of even just a few decades ago.

The only fear I have about living in a world of advanced technology is that if something were to happen, and it were all rendered useless, would I know what a piece of flint looked like and would I be able to get a spark from it. Maybe I'll just let the couch potato figure it out. It's about time he did something anyway.

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