Have you ever heard a song on the radio, recognized it, but couldn’t quite remember the title of the song or name of the artist? Have you ever had the name of an actor from a movie right on the tip of your tongue? What this usually results in for me is an exclamation of “Wait, don’t tell me!”, followed by a long while of concentration, eventually leading to a weirdly strong sense of accomplishment, joy, and pride when I finally realize what it was I was struggling to figure out. Unfortunately, since the advent of smartphones, we are robbing ourselves of this feeling. Now that we are able to access nearly any piece of information at the touch of a button, there is no sense of accomplishment that can be taken away from googling the name of that actor or using Shazam to find that song. Additionally, this lack of effort means that the information we discover will most likely not be retained long-term; we haven’t actually learned anything.
Since we have access to all this information, it’s as if every one of us knows everything there is to know. However, we haven’t actually learned anything because of it. We rely so much on our phones to provide us with information instantaneously and this can lead to a lack of appreciation for learning. Similar to how teaches used to say that we all needed to learn basic math skills because we weren’t always going to have a calculator handy in the real world. Now that we actually have that, I have personally noticed a decline in the basic mathematical ability of the people around me. The same is true for every piece of information now. People put so much faith in the fact that their phone will be able to figure everything out for them that they don’t bother learning anything for themselves. This attitude towards learning in generally can be a major hindrance for not only the individual, but to society as whole. So, the next time you can’t quite remember what the name of that song is, take a second before you pull out your phone and see if you can work it out on your own.
This happens to me regularly! However, as a full-time student, mother of two young children, and general of my clan of people, I have found that the use of technology actually aids me in more mundane tasks. This then allows me to keep some space free in my brain for my classes and the events and information I prioritize. It also helps me ensure that nothing slips through the cracks (which happens regularly to someone who is as consistently sleep deprived as I am).
While I agree with your assessment that it is easy to become complacent due to having a tiny computer easily accessible at our fingertips, I also believe that this laziness is primarily due to a lack of self-discipline mixed with a lack of critical thinking skills. For someone such as myself, the most mental math I need to do on a regular basis is calculating the amount of a discount in my head or doing some mental math prior to buying groceries. Thanks to technology, I’ve also learned a lot more information that I would have ever pursued on my own because of the ease of gathering the information. This is all to say that although I may no longer memorize song lyrics because they are so easily accessible, I am now able to provide you with a quick crash course on Korean history due to a moment of boredom last night enjoying the silence while my kids were asleep. Technology may cause complacency in some aspects, it also provides a wealth of information for people who choose to pursue it.