Steem engagement challenge-S10/W4| Do you think advanced technology somehow hampers our natural thought process?

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I often say that I am "old school" and that I prefer to do things the old way. Guess what? Even the golden oldies included technology. Whether I like technology or not, it’s been with me since the day I opened my eyes.

🟤 I was born through a caesarean section; it is technology.

🟤 I grew up playing with my toys, reading books, listening to the radio, and watching television; it is technology.

🟤 I started my life after school working and studying, driving to and fro; it is technology.

🟤 I started my own businesses, and doing my planning, setting the wheels in motion, keeping an eye on budgets, and drawing up financial statements; it is advanced technology.

🟤 I am here, posting, voting, commenting, and enjoying my Steemit business; it is advanced technology.

Looking at my growing up process there is no denying that technology has played, is playing, and will still play an important role in my life.

Advanced technology and our natural thought process

Q: Do I think advanced technology somehow hampers our natural thought process?
A: YES!

I was attending a parent gathering at the school not so long ago, and I could not help but notice how many of the parents, not to mention the kids were on their phones. Just from my observations of that evening I can answer the question.

Our phones and the internet, which are advanced technologies, are ruling our minds. We are dependent on our phones. Even though I am not a phone lover I must admit that I can now communicate easier, I can find information, I can navigate my way, and I can use various applications which is making my life so much easier.

Do you know that our phones are the first technology that is with us ALL the time? No wonder it is constantly distracting our minds and our thought processes.

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These days we stimulate our brains with technology and not deep thinking as our "screens" are packed with information. You just need to open Google right now and have one good look at your screen to see all the information that is staring us in the eye.

Our brains are wonderful organs. It changes both in structure and function while constantly adapting to our surroundings. Neuroplasticity is the fancy word given to it.

What I find interesting is that as we grow up, our brains change based on our environment, behavior, and interactions with the world.

Gathering information is the first step in thinking. The second step is to think about and concentrate on the information you have gathered. Through the use of technology, we’ve changed our brains to become "information gatherers" and no longer deep thinkers.

Recent research has shown, with compelling evidence, that people get lazy to think for themselves and things like, remembering, problem solving, and concentration have become problems that can lead to poor performance. Read more

Advanced technology indeed hampers our natural thought!

Advanced technology vs. intellect

Q: Do I think that we must depend entirely on these advanced technologies, or should we also use our intellect?
A: NO!

If you look for the meaning of the word "intelligence" you will find the following answer from Britannica;
"mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, adapt to new situations, understand and handle abstract concepts, and use knowledge to manipulate one’s environment."

This is a wonderful definition of intelligence and why human intellect is important so let’s take a closer look at what it is actually saying.

mental quality – This is how we feel about ourselves and the life that we are living. If we feel good, we will be positive about life and it will show through our actions.

abilities to learn – God gave us wonderful skills when he created us, like the 4 C's: Communication (sharing of ideas), Collaboration (working with others), Creativity (to be able to think outside the box), and Critical thinking (to solve those forever problems) which nobody can take away from us.

experience – It is what we have learned through using our senses to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel over a period of time.

adapt to new situations – As humans we have the skill to face challenges as they arise.

understand – We can comprehend how people feel and act and we know the reasoning, the what, and the hows, behind things.

handle abstract concepts – We have the ability to absorb what is happening around us and the information given to us.

knowledge – We gain valuable knowledge through our upbringing, education, the information that is shared with us, and the skills we develop to understand what is happening around us.

Each of the above can be ticked ✔️when it comes to humans but not when it comes to advanced technology❌
Humans are special blessings and we need to use and rely on what was given to us, our intellect.

There is no doubt that advanced technology is shaping the world. It is hard not to notice the impact of something like AI (Artificial Intelligence) on humans and society. All that I know is that we need a balance between our thinking, using our brains, and that of advanced technology.

After all, why would an intellectual person like Elon Musk plead for better regulations regarding AI and stand up for human intellect?

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Support for or against advanced technology

Q: Am I supporting or against the use of advanced technologies?
A: BOTH!

Let me take you back to when I was a child.

Growing up in those days we had a café a few blocks from our home. We used to walk to the café every day to buy fresh bread. Milk was delivered to our doorsteps via a coupon system. Anyway, as we were five people in the household my mother always gave us money for two breads and sometimes a sweet or two. She always told us that exercising was good for us, hence the fact that it was a daily routine for us kids.

One day I walked into the café and here was this big white machine with something that looked like blades. I was totally stunned when I saw a lady placing her bread in this machine just to see how it sliced the bread. No ways! Of course I had to try it with our two breads. I soon discovered that it had a knob on the top that you could turn to control the thickness of the slices.

From that day on, we no longer walked to the café every day but every second day. This white machine was technology. Not only was it handy but also economical, as not even my mother could cut slices as thin as this bread slicer.

Advanced technology is no different from a bread slicer. It is there to make life easier and more effective for us and even I, who am old school, am benefiting from it.

🟤 I am for advanced technology when it makes our lives easier.

🟤 I am against advanced technology when it takes over our lives and in the process puts us in danger.

Advanced technology and its advances and disadvantages

As with nearly everything in life there are always pros and cons. The same is true with advanced technology. It is important that we are always aware of them.

ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
Make our lives easier and more convenient	Putting our privacy at risk
Communication is a click away	It is addicted
Advanced education	Making us lazy
Availability of information	Cannot always be trusted
Increase productivity	Creates social conflict
Provide entertainment	Change our behaviour

The author Arthur C. Clarke might be saying that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic" but for me there is only one philosophy and that is that too much of anything is bad for us, and the same is applicable to advanced technology.

I invite: @aviral123 @jannatmou @talktofaith

CC: @kouba01@stanley52 @ngoenyi @waqarahmadshah @shahidalinaz @max-pro @ustazkarim

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