This is How We Live - Essay Example

?This is How we Live Having been born into this current generation, I do not really give the lifestyle a second thought. I grew up surrounded by the luxury of automation and would most likely be lost if I were left to my own devices in the event that a gadget, app, or technology has not yet been invented to do something for me. I barely use my hands these days except to type away on my laptop or swipe away on my tablet PC. Other than those activities, I think my fingers would begin to suffer from rigor mortis. After reading the chapter “This is How we Live” in Ellen Degeneres' book “The Funny Thing Is”, I found myself contemplating her thoughts on the matter of how our life has become so easy that it has produced a generation of dumbed down and lazy people. I must say that after much observation and contemplation, I found myself actually agreeing with everything that she has said. Don't tell me that nobody has noticed that the rise in obesity in our country all stems from the fact that we all spend way too much time in the sitting position. It seems that everything can be done from a sitting position these days. All because technology has made it possible. That is why I tend to believe Ellen when she says : Everyone talks about how advancements in technology will change the way we live forever. Frankly. I think modern technology is hurting us. I really do. Think about it. Before the invention of the remote control, we all had to at least get up from our cushy seats in order to change the television channel, turn the volume up or down, and just get that dang picture to come in clearly through that adjustable antenna. These days, that is all done by a push of a button and the only body part that sees any action while watching TV tends to be the hand that happens to be holding the remote. Let's not forget that the favorite place of any person in the house these days is the TV room, or any area where the TV set just happens to always be on. Our TV addiction has gotten to the point that we watch TV even while we sleep. I know that my mother does not often make it to her bed to get some shut eye anymore. Not since these recliner chairs have made it possible to sleep in front of the TV set with the remote falling out of one hand. I mean seriously? Most people can't even make the short trek to bed these days? I don't believe that sleeping in that recliner can give anybody the same quality of sleep as when one is plunked down in bed with the comfy covers pulled up. Ellen also talks about how technology has managed to invade our walking space because of the “moving sidewalk”. Now, that used to be limited to just the airports to get people to their terminal gates faster. These days, walking has become an option for some people as well. Nope, we don't have moving sidewalks installed in public streets. But we do have the Segway to do our walking on the sidewalks for us. Instead of learning to put one foot in front of the other in order to move forward, the Segway users have instead learned to change the center of gravity in their bodies so that they can lean forward, left, and right in the contraption without keeling over and falling out while they “move” along the sidewalk at a pace slightly faster than a regular walk. People, do you seriously want to develop Deep Vein Thrombosis? I am sure the inventors of the Segway did not envision that their machine would be the cause of blood clots in the people's legs. Our blood has to keep circulating somehow right? Walking used to be the best way to do that. However, technology has made sure that even walking will eventually become a forgotten form of free transport that was good for the health of mankind. Technology truly seems to be detrimental to our health. People have become so adverse to anything that can be deemed as exercise that gadgets had to be invented to lure people into doing any sort of physical activity. Hence the advent of the motion sensor video game consoles. The idea behind the machine, is that it will get people to move in ways they refused to do in the past because they found it too taxing to do so. So now, we need to “Walk it Out” in order to remember how to walk. Then we “Dance on Broadway” in order to remember what it is like to actually move all our body parts all at the same time. But this is the killer game. We also need to pop in a disc for “Extreme Sports” or just simple “Sports” so that we can enjoy a game of tennis, bowling, boxing, or golf. Now, the intention of the games is of the noble kind. However, the fact that it removes a person from having to deal with actual physical interaction while enjoying these activities has me worried no end. Where would our social lives be without Twitter and Facebook status updates? Skype has made it possible for people to party on without having to change into actual party clothes or going to an actual venue. That definitely can't be good for our psychological development. Actual people have been reduced to avatars and our interaction has moved into a “virtual world”. What does that even mean? All of that time spent online playing in pretend worlds could seriously be better spent joining an actual social club, going to bars, or actually spending time at a gym doing actual exercise with actual people. Oh wait, that requires way too much effort to accomplish. All of the technology was created to prevent any actual energy from ever being used up by people, and that is exactly what is happening to us now. In the end, technology was never meant to replace our real life activities. They were only presented as options. But the lazy beast of man chose to make technology the dominant force in our daily lives instead and that can never be a good sign. Here's hoping that the time will never come when man will shun all activities in favor of surrogates like the alternate reality of the Bruce Willis movie. Works Cited DeGeneres, Ellen. The Funny Thing Is... New York: Simon & Schuster. 2008 Print. Read More