Technology doesn’t make men rather men make technology. How many of us can actually remember the last time we went to the library in search of a book to do a particular assignment? Or the last time we had to pick up a
newspaper to refer to some news? Or had to buy a Rs.2 postal stamp to send a letter to a near or dear one? Frankly speaking I do not remember any such incident at least in the past decade or so and expect the same from you people also.
Since the last 20 years India has seen a tremendous amount of change or should I say advancement on the technological front, but is it a boon or a bane? Technology offers many advantages. It has made our lives easier and one can do anything and everything by sitting at home and not moving at all. The question about technology being a boon or a bane can be answered in different ways by different people depending on the use they imply these technologies to. Nuclear energy though considered to be destructive can easily be put to a constructive use, same is the case with technology. But as far as technology being related to the laziness of people is concerned, it is, to a very large extent, true.
People today do not have any reason to come out of their houses or even their beds because every single thing is available at their finger tips. Take an example of the social networking sites, people do not need to go to their friend’s place, neither do they have to write letters or anything, everything is available by just logging into either Facebook, Orkut, Myspace, Twitter or chat.
When we were in school, the ideal place for us to reach to any possible information was either books at home or in the library, but why would anyone get up? Go to the library, look for books, then open the book, look for information and then grab it when you can easily type a few keywords on www.google.com and find out everything that you need. Actually you get more than required.
Online shopping can also be an example to show the amount of laziness that the society is getting into today. Every morning I wish I could order the daily confectionery items like milk, bread, eggs etc. also at the click of the mouse just the same way as I shop for everything else. Today, people do not even go to stores to try on and buy clothes for themselves. They rather prefer to order them from any of the shopping sites and get them delivered at their doorstep. Be it electronic items, food, photographs, paintings, shoes etc. everything is just either a phone call or a click away from you. This helps us to stay away from the ever increasing crowd in the markets and makes things easier for us; but is it healthy?
Last but not the least would be the example of online banking. Earlier, I remember my parents going to the ATM to make various monetary transactions, but now I see my dad just switching on the PC and making all types of transactions. Be it paying of the bills, buying a movie ticket, train ticket etc; internet has made everything very easy and convenient.
Though today we have to click buttons and get our work done, I think the day is not too far when we just ‘think’ of something and it will be done. Imagine yourself not even having to go to the kitchen to switch on your dishwasher, just think and all our dirty utensils will be washed.
Though very convenient and easy but all this is having a very negative effect on our health. The youth today have become couch potatoes because their life revolves only around either cell phones or computers or iPods. The only exercise that we see is the exercise of their fingers or thumbs that’s it. Nobody today has a particular routine in which work can be done and everything revolves around these tools only.
It is not only making us lazy but also making us a lot dependent on machinery to do anything and everything that we want to. Obesity, the main problem that Indian youth is facing today, is also a result of this advancement and further on diseases like diabetes and hypertension also follow the flab.
So I would conclude by saying that we should use technology but not make ourselves its slave. Use a cell phone but no matter how irrelevant that sounds, please listen to Abhishek Bachchan and follow the policy of walk when you talk. Do not let technology make life hell for you.
Looking forward to your comments and views in the comments section below.
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