The Importance of Taking the Easier Path by Richard Seltzer

(Excerpt from Lenses, a book-length colleciton of essays, available at http://www.seltzerbooks.com/lenses.html
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A friend of mine bemoans the invention of GPS. Relying on GPS, people lose their sense of direction and their ability to use maps. He sees that as an impoverishment of our spatial awareness. He also bemoans the availability of the information resources of the Internet, because people don't remember facts when they can easily look them up. He hearkens back to what was lost culturally with the invention of the printing press, and the decline in the ability to memorize with the invention of writing. He sees it as a moral failing to take the easy path made possible by advances technology.

My view is that we are programmed to take advantage of every opportunity to do more with less, to not waste effort or memory space unnecessarily, to follow the path of least resistance, like water flowing down a hill. When an easier way to do something becomes available, we have a strong inclination to adapt to it and forget the old way, and that inclination has repeatedly been important for the survival and advancement of mankind.

Admittedly, our increasing dependence on technology puts us at risk if and when the electrical and electronic underpinnings of modern civilization vanish (through such disasters as solar flares or nuclear war). But if and when that happens, we'll adjust again to the new reality and relearn what we need to relearn. And in the meantime, we'll advance far more quickly both as individuals and as a society, by supplementing our natural abilities with the use of technological innovations.