Is technology making us smarter or lazier

Technology over the last few years has proven to make life easier and better. Enabling us to do more and perform optimally whilst having little understanding about what we're doing and why were doing it, increasing dependence on others. Technology has managed to make humans individually smart and individually dumb simultaneously. So, the big ask remains...do the benefits technology proffer surpass those of the demerits?

Is technology making us smarter?

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Arguments have been made for and against the proposition, but if you're desperately searching for a direct answer, here it is. "Technology is making us smarter".

As someone who spends quite a lot of time surfing through Google and reading research papers. I do believe technology is doing a lot better on the smarter aspect. Of course, this notion is backed by some popular research involving the majority of experts surveyed on the subject matter. In a survey of over 850 persons, more than 75% were in agreement with the statement "...by unprecedented access to more information and through increased usage of the internet, human intelligence has been enhanced to make better decisions further".

Some perspectives brought up in the course of the survey include:

• As a result of the fact that we spend more time trying to research and generate solutions to problems rather than trying to recall the problem itself, technology has proven to make us more creative in our approach to problems.

• Certain crippling tasks which would normally be stored and performed by the mind can be offloaded to Google or other internet services, knowing that minute tasks such as remembering minor details, keeping the grocery list, or sticking to a mental schedule can be tough to execute at times.
  So note this "Google does not make you stupid".

Is technology making us lazier?

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Yes, definitely.

Technology may have made a whole difference in society in recent times at the expense of transforming humans into dependent machines. Running errands is a thing of the past; these days people don't do that. I mean, why bother when I can get it all done with the push of a button and have it all sorted? Undoubtedly, technology has become a large part of people's lives.

Thanks to the emergence of addictive programs such as the WII. One can go bowling, play basketball or even participate in the Olympic games in his/her bedroom. While it's undoubtedly fun to do so, I can say "it's not the most productive thing in the world"

You'd be so surprised to find that a lot of people can't do without their gadgets for a day. Don't believe me? Why not try it. Set out a day each week or month where you get to do anything else but interact with technology (mostly screens). I subject myself to it once a month during what I call my dopamine detox session and all I usually have by my side are a pen and a little journal where I can document my thoughts for the day. It's not so much fun haha, but it's got a lot of benefits.