As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoni

The statement links people’s reliance on technology to solve problem negatively with their ability to think. Surely, the advancement of technology and science has greatly changed the ways we live and think. We abandon our diary and use our smart phones to record our daily schedules. Instead of going through the collection of books in the library, we can easily search for answers to our questions in a blink of an eye via google search engine. It is fairly common to have two computer screen alive with emails, live-chats, Web browsers and other programs running. However, in my opinion, the dependence on technology does not necessary restrict free thinking, provided it is used wisely.

The use of technology allows us to avoid many tedious steps, short circuit the thinking process and enable us to focus on more complex issues. Take calculator as an example. Since the invention of electronic calculator more than half a century ago, it has become a common procession of every household in the world. The calculators available today can perform highly complex calculations, which can sometimes be too complicated for analysis by paper and pen, in a spilt second. One may think that the use of calculator may cause impairment of our mathematical ability and increased mathematical illiteracy. However, in my opinion, not only that the reliance on calculator does not preclude users’ ability to think, it enables students and other users to perform tedious calculations more efficiently and releases more time for them to develop complex mathematical concepts and applications.

In contrast to the statement, technology frees the human imagination. The World Wide Web connects virtually anyone in the world with a computer or a smart phone, bringing people from different continents with different cultural and academic backgrounds together. This promotes the exchange of ideas and information, stimulating creative thinking and solving problems that would otherwise be impossible without the help of advanced technology.

It is undeniable that heavy use of technology is associated with some drawbacks. Powerful computer applications provide easy solutions to many problems and the importance of the fundamental knowledge is often undermined. For instance, in research fields, investigators often rely on various statistical software, such as R, SAS or STATISTICA, to perform statistical analyses on their experimental data, which can be conducted even with minimal statistical knowledge. Because of the convenience provided by the technology, many researchers neglect the need of learning the basic theories, leading many misuses of statistical tests and bad data analyses, which can be damaging to the quest of knowledge. However, it is unfair to conclude that the use of technology reduces humans’ ability to think. It is the ways that technology being used that determine the outcomes.

Hence, it is clear that, when harnessed correctly, technology can improve our ability to think and tackle problems which may otherwise be impossible without the help of sophisticated machines or computer applications. Technology does not impair free thinking, rather, it provides a platform and opportunity for creative thinking or imagination.