Is Technology Making Us Weak?

I was listening to my Spotify one day and a commercial for Uber Eats came on, where Starbucks and Uber Eats are collaborating to make delivering their expensive cup of joe more accessible to their customers (I tease, I like Starbucks, I just don't live for Starbucks). It made me realize, we are extremely lazy species. Why the hell do we need a delivery service for coffee? Like Chase, there is a Starbucks at every corner.

​In an older post, I talked about how our reality has been warped by our cellphones and other smart devices. It is a convenient device, but it has also made current generations and future generations lazy. We are so dependent on our phones that we have turned into mindless zombies. The intelligent level of most people has significantly declined. Smartphones don't make smart people. It makes dumb lazy ones. You remember in Wall-E how the earth's population packed up and left into space for thousands of years due to lack of resources and now those descendants living on the ship are complacent, chubby space people who have robots doing everything for them. That's what our aim is. To be chubby, non-functional people who asks Alexa for daily updates, uses Siri to turn items in our homes on and has Uber Eats/Seamless/GrubHub to deliver food that are literally across the street from us (I mean really, is it that hard to climb down four flights of stairs and cross a street?).
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Now, this phenomenon is sad because stores, particularly retail stores are being affected. Payless, GAP, hell even The Family Dollar are closing because people are not going to stores to shop. Shopping online is fast and convenient. I understand, I use Amazon sometimes because there are certain things that are cheaper or that the store won't restock for a while  or I just plain know that the only store that would have what I am looking for is too damn far and will be packed and will probably have two people working at a cashier of six. Why?!.  The reliance of shopping online for food, clothes or electronics have taken away the experience of trying the items, getting a feel for them or even attempting to haggle for a lower price.

Technology has made us mentally, socially and physically weak.  This is not to say that good thing hasn't come out of technology (ie: 3D printing allows transplants to be a little easier, having easily access information and sharing it across the world has brought more awareness), but we have to be more cautious of how we use it. I mean, how often are you and your friends are in the same room, sharing Instagram photos? If not cautious, we should be more responsible because taking a selfie with a dangerous animal or sleeping in a self-driving car is not worth your life or anyone else's.

​We are in as much at fault as the technology we hopelessly rely on. If we're going to use our phones and smart devices to help alleviate stress and act as a convenience, we need to realize they're available as assistance, not a substitute.  We still need to do our part and participate in the real world. As humans, we are capable of learning so many things but are quick to let someone or something else take over responsibilities and blame it on the other. So let there be a call to action that we become more aware and take greater responsibility on how we use these devices.

If you enjoyed this post, check out an older version: 
Cellphones: Worlds Sedative for Reality