Sometimes I hear people complain about things that seem like they should be celebrated.  

For instance, people often complain about how technology is replacing traditional jobs in old-school, blue collar areas.  It's true that sometimes machines come in and make workers obsolete, but that doesn't mean they're taking away jobs.  They're just taking cashier and assembly line jobs and converting them into engineering jobs (making and maintaining the robots).  This is obviously a net gain for the country.

This is, of course, a pretty obvious and well addressed example, but there are other times when people try to vilify technology when I think it's inappropriate.

Several people have expressed their concern to me over the fact that many younger people don't bother to remember phone numbers because of cell phones.  These people seem to think that memorizing random numbers makes a person smarter.

I have the exact opposite reaction when I learn that things that were once essential are now completely ignored by younger generations.  The reason people don't remember phone numbers anymore is because people don't have to.  Remembering phone numbers or chemical reactions or trig identities is a waste of brain power in my opinion.

It's not that we're taking the focus that older generations applied toward remembering phone numbers and emptying that part of our brains out.  Instead we're replacing it with more useful things (at least some of us are).

Ultimately, I think that's the whole point of technology.  If a computer can automate some part of my life, I'm better off.  I don't believe that computers will ever replace humans because as we invent new ways to streamline what we used to spend time doing, we inevitably invent a new way to spend our time which is generally more interesting.

This all ties in to how I value the ability to learn new things, but  I have a post coming up all about that, so I'll lay off the topic for now.  I just want everyone to know that I hope to make myself obsolete by the time I turn 30.