They are called smart phones, the devices that don’t just make telephone calls, but also take pictures, send mail, play music and figure your taxes.
A better name, however, may be stupid phones. I’m afraid that as technology gets smarter, we get duller.
Smart phones may come with a price
This disturbing trend became obvious with the popularity of GPS mapping devices. The little gadgets fit right on the dashboard on the car. You type in the address where you want to go and it tells you road by road, turn by turn exactly how to get there. You don’t even have to look at it, a voice tells you when and where to move your vehicle.
Traveling with someone who had a GPS unit once proved invaluable when we got lost in an unfamiliar city, so I do not discount the value of these route finders. But I do worry plenty about people who rely solely on the voice out of the dashboard and don’t turn on the voice in their head.
A friend was driving down the highway several months ago when suddenly, an SUV made a U-turn and ran right into her. Why would the driver do something like that? The computer voice told her she was going the wrong way and said to turn around, that’s why. One shudders to think what would happen if the unit was having a bad day and told her to drive off a cliff.
Young drivers are especially dependent on these devises to the extent that they can’t tell top from bottom on a road map. My co-workers to laugh at me in the newsroom because I gave “country directions.” These would include phrases like “go to the big red barn on the hill, turn north and go ‘til you cross the creek.” The preferred method by young reporters was to call up a program, type the address into the search engine and get bland directions like “drive 2.6 miles, turn left.” No thinking required. Until the bridge is washed out, then how are these drivers ever going to find their way around?
It’s not just about navigating geography. Having to use your brain to figure out everyday problems equips us to deal with bigger problems in life, to develop the confidence and skills to change direction when the path we’re on bottoms out.
A driving instructor remarked that some teenagers have no concept of how to maneuver local streets. Since they were very young, they sat in the car with a movie playing for entertainment. As a result, they do not pay attention to their parent driving or the passing landscape, so they are lost when they have to find their way around. I guess that’s where the GPS comes in.
We trust computers more than we trust our own instincts. Migrating geese have a better sense of direction than most Americans; who does that make the real bird brain?
I was at a meeting last week where we planned out several events by writing on the board at the front of the room. After we were done, the leader asked if we had it written down before he erased it.
“Just a minute,” one of our group said. He hopped out of his chair and used his phone to take a photograph of the board. Then he emailed the photo to each of us. We had the info without the tiresome labor of actually writing or remembering.
Another handy use for a smart phone: When you go to a big parking lot, don’t bother to remember where you parked, take a picture of the row number.
Even though out of necessity I keep careful track of my checkbook balance, I don’t fret if I lose track every once in awhile, I’ll just look it up through online banking. My dad can do figures much faster in his head than I can. I’ve never been good at math and have come to rely almost exclusively on calculators. Spelling was a weekly test all through grade school, but Google and spell check now do that work for me.
I don’t think technology is making us stupid, but it is an enabler in our tendency to go there. No longer do I have to put in all the effort of having calling a friend, expressing interest and having a genuine conversation. I just turn on Facebook and it feeds me everything I need to know about my friends. At least it creates that perception. When I left a job several months ago, some people were shocked that they didn’t find out long after the fact. As it turns out, not everyone posts every detail of their life online, it still takes some savvy to get the good gossip.
It’s true that we have very smart phones. That may be a dumb mistake.
