When we look at today’s aim for more electronic toys, better and faster electronic benefits, and even the desire to remove human capacity from the workforce one has to wonder where it all will end up. We are a society that supports technology while we are also a society that complains of the lack of human touch when it matters more to us.
We want to ensure that our incomes are fully automated and we want our bank account to be smart enough to pay our bills without ever bouncing an electronic check. Yet as the pace of our world speeds up we are also loudly crying about how we only get about 5 minutes with our physician when in fact we want the personal touch. We ask that our cars be smart enough to tell us whether we’re driving at the maximum fuel efficiency but we don’t want to be bothered by cell phone calls in public.
We want a 50 inch plasma TV but we haven’t found a way to make them more energy efficient so they’ve been banned in the state of California. We use our Bluetooth GPS to help us get around but we still don’t give directions to those who dare ask without purchasing something first. Of course, we want the automated internet business income but we don’t want to actually have to work to make it profitable.
While it seems like we have only recently arrived at this crossroads this isn’t entirely true. We started allowing robots to replace humans in plants all over the country back in the late 1980s. As technology encroaches on our world more every day we have to start wondering where we are heading and what we’re going to do about it.
As the robotics of tomorrow threatens the jobs that feed families and the amazing automation that we can create takes away the need for human service, where exactly are we headed? When are we going to start combining the best of technology with the best of the human element?
The longer we allow technology to come in between us and our family and friends the more we sell out to its power. Yet if we can all remember what is actually important in our world we would be able to decrease technology’s importance in the world and perhaps we could come back to the human touch.
Yes, technology has been an improvement and many loves have been positively touched due to our progress. As a society we will all determine our future dependence on technology and its role in our world. Our actions over the next few years will determine whether the jobless count rises thanks to improved technology or if we learn to turn off our cell phones for a nice family meal.