MODERN BUISINESS LIFE
Is technology
dumbing us down?
By Jenny Brockis
A
s life and work becomes
busier, faster and evermore
complex, our reliance on our
technologies continues to escalate.
This has led to concerns that we
are outsourcing our thinking too
much. But perhaps it reflects a
natural progression in our brains’
evolution as we rewire our thinking
to adapt to our brave new world.
Digital natives have little difficulty
in assimilating new technologies,
10 ModernBusiness
September 2016
so does it matter that we no longer
do the mental math to divide up
that restaurant bill? The calculator
is quick, efficient and less likely to
make a mistake.
We have long been information
gatherers. Whether you studied
astrophysics, car mechanics or
dietetics, studying helped you forge
a career path with knowledge that
distinguished you from others. As
accessibility to that information has
now become available to a far wider
audience, we have developed into
a society of armchair experts who
with a quick Google search can now
debate the finer nuances of what
was previously your IP alone.
While technology lessens our need
to “know” or even to remember,
what the modern workplace is
crying out for, is more innovation,