…Glorified Technological Slaves… Chimzy

The notion of computers/machines/technology replacing humans in the work place always sounded like a joke to me. Had people known the technological force would be unstoppable, they would have started stacking up food in their basements ahead of time to prepare for when the computer would literally replace the human (well not entirely-we can debate). It’s not that computers are smarter than man I mean come on; we program the damn things and tell them what to do, specify conditions to follow etc. So I have come to the conclusion that it’s the greed of man to make more profit at a faster rate than a fellow human can help with the same. I wonder how it must feel when an employee is called for dismissal and is told machine number 2.0.5 will now take over, "thank you for serving us for the past sixty years or so, but this machine here will make a better employee". 

The damn microchips keep getting smaller and processor power getting faster and thus the spending price is sky high. Who would have thought these little gadgets would run our lives like this? So practically speaking we are still slaves, only now the terms have changed. We are the glorified technological slaves. The sound of automated systems is far more appealing than the technological freedom I witnessed when I went to visit my grandmother in the village. And yet only when we take a closer look, do we come to realise that we are caught up in the bondage of dependence. A mere slip of the mind into forgetting their cell phone at home locks people into panic modes of all sorts. Twitter this twitter that is quite the task to be attended at daily. Day in and day out we plug in to recharge out laptop batteries to prolong the dosage of our injected technological morphine.

Technology addicts, perhaps we also belong in the street corners and dark alleys among the crack heads. I fear for the generation born into this technological era, now they are hopeless to think they can actually come out of this spider web if at all they thought of it. I am torn between two worlds, one is fast faced with information and thus cluttered with power cables, modems, keywords through Google search engines, an environment that demands a constant chasing of time, where people forget to breathe and strip away their titles as human beings to human doings. The ramifications are vast and range from fatigue to psychological disorder. Maybe no one is keeping watch and observing, but I still maintain that we ought to take a step back and balance things out before we wake up one day and wonder what it is that we have actually done with our lives. To this effect and acknowledging the struggle to move against this technological force, I yearn for technology free periods when I can cater to relationships, family friends and the like. I think we are forgetting what is important and with each passing day we grow more anti-social, ask anyone who has a friend with a Blackberry for instance. I rest my case. 

I somehow find myself laughing at my argument. I don’t nominate that we fight technology or do away with it. 

That’s like fighting a losing battle but rather find a balance with this force that we have become so dependent on. It indeed has provided more than we could have ever dreamt of and its possibilities continue to astonish me. The question that remains is could you truly exempt yourself as a technological slave? I am certain the responses here would be quite entertaining.