As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.

Throughout the history people have been inventing and incorporating new technologies into their lives. We can assume that the number of technologies available to people nowadays is much bigger than that of prehistoric people. However, no one would argue that the ability of modern people to think and make decisions is worse comparing to the ability of our ancestors. Technologies don’t affect the process of thinking itself; they do however make the decision making process much easier allowing us to focus on really important issues instead of being stuck among mundane operations. Therefore, the ability of humans to think and take decisions will surely enhance as we develop and incorporate more and more technologies into our lives.

One would argue that the invention of calculators caused people to use these machines to perform even very simple operations instead of multiplying or subtracting numbers in one’s mind. It could probably slightly deteriorate our capacity to perform calculations. But can we substitute the ability to think by sheer ability to perform routine calculations? I think the answer is no since the most prized qualities of people at their workplace are critical thinking ability, acuity at diagnosing problems, communication skills, collaborative skills, and the ability to understand diverse cultural contexts. Technologies can come in handy in all of these issues, thus making people even more efficient.

First thing that comes to my mind when I think of technologies is computer. Many people use it to analyze data arrays, create and render elaborate three-dimensional models, computing and predicting protein structure, etc. This technology helps us to perform different time consuming operations in almost no time. However, we can’t say that computer knows what to do by itself. It’s just a machine, a very skillful one of course, but it still needs to be operated by human to produce any valuable output. So, it looks like we still need to make decisions in order to make the most of this technology.

Another example of a wide-spread technology is the Internet which represents a huge network of computers spanning the whole planet. Among other implications, this technology allows people to stay connected with one another, thus making communication easier and faster. We can send an email to a colleague or friend, attach different files to it (from family pictures to charts and tables) and receive an answer in 10 minutes. This possibility of instant information exchange resulted in major changes in communication between people. We can talk to our families when they are far away, discuss some important issues with our remote colleagues; send huge files to our clients instead of sending them by post. In other words, we don’t need to loose time any more – most problems can be discussed at the spot, even if your friend, colleague, or client is in another hemisphere now. So, instead of spending weeks in a row to get an answer, you solve the problem and move to another one. Internet makes our communication more effective; consequently, our lives become more efficient.

Examples by far have displayed the usage of different technological means and devices. However, technology can be viewed more generally – it doesn’t have to be a machine or an electronic device. In my opinion, technology can be regarded as an efficacious way of doing something, for example, assessing students’ aptitude. As I am writing an essay for the GRE Issue task, I can’t help thinking of the GRE test as a technology that gauges graduate students. This assessment technology is very demanding both for those who create new tests and for those who take them. In order to get a good score students need to display their intelligence, savvy, mind acuity, critical reasoning ability, etc. So, they actually need to think hard and make a lot of decisions to use this technology.

To summarize, incorporation of various technological means in our lives, if viewed more generally than the usage of a device which helps us to perform simple calculations, makes our lives easier, allows more free time and enables us to think about further implications of existing technologies and discovering new ones. Consequently, it will improve our general ability to think.