One thing that is certain when talking to people is that older generations will always remind people today how much harder it was when they were a kid. Depending on when someone was born, it’s possible they remember times where cars were a luxury, air conditioning was rare, phones were restricted by cords, and you had to use big paper maps for directions driving to foreign places. Today, those problems rarely exist, as cars and air conditioning are common things, cell phones have eliminated the need for landline phones and limiting cords, and GPS has made paper maps all but obsolete. We also don’t work as regularly in manual labor like we we once did, as increasingly more people work using computers, and many work remotely in their comfortable homes. Today, we passively look at screens for chunks of each day, ride e-bikes and e-scooters instead of walk or pedal real bikes, and turn to artificial intelligence to figure out how to write term papers or figure out other life tasks. We are moving from not having enough, to having too much; from moving our bodies, to simply grabbing an uber; from having to think and work to find solutions, to dropping a query in AI for a fast answer. Simply put, we are becoming the most lethargic people in the history of human existence.
Modern marvels, or modern problems?
If you have the means today, you almost don’t have to leave your house for just about…everything. Technology keeps us moving, and on any given day you can do your work from home, order food and groceries to your door, and purchase products online that are delivered to you the same day. If you run into a problem, AI can usually provide immediate answers that only recently would have been hard to come by trying to find a real-life expert. Heck, if you are looking to lose weight, working out at the gym is now more regularly being replaced by prescription drugs that do the job for you with little effort required.
Not only are more people doing their jobs remotely, more students are receiving their education by virtual means, again limiting the need to go to a physical building and interact with others. Online dating apps allow people to not have to physically go out, and streaming services for everything allow us to watch movies at home that we used to see at the theater, and games online that we used to attend in person.
We are becoming the most lethargic people in the history of human existence
What is the cost to our human development, when with each week that passes increasingly less is asked of us? This applies to both our physical and mental health, and the price we will pay in the future for all of these modern conveniences. Can we remain a hardy species if we never have to do anything? How resilient will we be mentally when we never have to deal with people, or problem solve because AI just spits out answers? And what sense of purpose and pride will we experience when we no longer make, create, or actually do anything?
Final thoughts
We are becoming less active with each year that passes as evidenced by the ways in which we work, go to school, meet others, and receive goods. While it is nice to have modern conveniences, we must think about what we are losing as a result, and the impact it has on our human development. We may be more efficient, but at what cost? And what skills and abilities are we using due to not applying ourselves to life challenges as we once did? We are becoming more dependent on technology, and less active overall, creating big questions for what the future holds.
drstankovich.com
