Are Progress And Technology Making Our Lives Better?

Society as a whole has come a very long way from the days of horse and buggies. We have made our world smaller. As technology progressed we were able to talk to people miles away, then countries away. With fax, then internet and email we can complete paperwork for business deals in a matter of minutes.

Is this good? There are so many more people in each person’s life today than there were in the days of old. Back then people had to rely on each other for survival. Neighbors were friends out of necessity. We were limited in our social interactions.

Today we can be overwhelmed with social obligations, yet not truly know anyone in attendance. They may be friends or neighbors, but we don’t talk to them in real life. Instead, too many people bury their heads in the technology they can carry in their hand.

With the outbreak of cell phones, we lost the companionship of those who live around us. We can reach out and touch someone in a different country, but we can’t be bothered to walk next door to say “hey wanna get a cup of coffee?”

Technology can help make our lives easier and more convenient. This should give us more time in our days. Yet, instead our lives feel even busier than ever before. How in the world did colonial Americans get everything done in their days?

Life was simpler. People helped each other. Farmers worked together and planted varying crops, then traded harvests. As many transactions were made with barter as with cash. Cash wasn’t as much of a necessity as having the goods our neighbors needed.

Technology changed all that. How many of our jobs are related to survival, and how many are simply to keep our technical lives running? I’m not saying that these conveniences aren’t just that – very convenient. It’s great to be able to pull out a phone to look up the population of a city or find the fastest and easiest route to your destination.

But, with this convenience has come anxiety, stress and depression more than ever before. People are more lonely than they have ever been despite having multiple ways of coming together.

I can’t speak for anyone else. But I know I need a break from technology in my life. There is a world to discover even in our small towns. It’s time to get to know the people in our local world before taking on people in the big world.

And yes, we can even do that with technology to start out.