Over xmas I had a traditional family debate at the dinner table about the impact technology has had on our everyday lives. My parents always valued and continue to value sitting down at the table together and sharing the meals of the day. So when I was caught checking the premier league scores with my laptop at the table it started a heated debate on the way technology has changed our daily lives.
My mum and sister were quick to point out a number of incidents where they thought there was inappropriate or rude behaviour from both my dad and myself. Dad was caught checking the weather on his iPad in church and I was caught using the laptop at the dinner table. They then tried to argue that if it wasn't for technology then we wouldn't have committed such atrocities. Dad and I both admitted that what we did was something we shouldn't have done but we both agreed that we chose to look at the iPad and the laptop with the understanding that it was a little rude.
Technology among other things has led to an increase in the number of choices we as humans make on a daily basis. Dad and I made a choice to use technology at an inappropriate time, a choice that 15 years ago we didn't have. When the first credit cards started appearing in the 1950's people were presented with a choice as to whether to use what they had now or to borrow what they needed now and pay it back latter. There have been many people who have placed themselves into financial stress because they made the choice to borrow more than they could pay back.
Technology is not responsible for the choices we make it has only provided us with more choices and exposed some of the flaws in human behaviour. How humans make choices is a fascinating area of interest and one well explained by the book Nudge (Thaler & Sunstein).
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