We have computers, cell phones, GPS systems and many other devices that make our lives easier. However easier doesn’t always mean better.

Can you make basic calculations in your mind? Are you able to read a map if GPS goes down? Thankfully many people can these days.

I am not so sure about future generations. While electronics and other innovations make our lives easier, they also reduce our ability to analyze, focus, read and write. Some people mistake being technology savvy for being smart. Unfortunately it is not a case.

I think that future generations will find it more difficult to grow intellectually. How do you explain to a student an importance of spelling right when voice recognition systems will convert their speech into text in word processing programs and E-mail? Why should they memorize important dates when some reminder feature in their cell phone or PC would let them know? Can you imagine turning on your cell phone and hearing something like, “Today is your father’s birthday”? What is the reason to concentrate on a road when navigation system will warn them when they are moving too close to the car ahead or tell them when it is safe to change lanes?

So far every new generation has been more advanced than previous ones – technologically, intellectually, athletically, you name it. I am sure future generations will produce great scientists, engineers, doctors, writers, artists and athletes. There is no question that some of them are going to achieve much more than generations before them. Unfortunately they will represent exception to the general trend.

Overall people are not going to be smarter in the future. They will have to think, learn and do less than us. It’s hard to explain why you should know how to do certain things on your own when some device can do it for you.

I realize that some of you might disagree with my opinion. After all it can be argued that our ancestors knew a lot more than us. For example they built houses, dug wells, grew and collected harvest. How many people can do that in the western world today? This is a valid point. Nonetheless while we can’t do many things that previous generations could, we have better education, know much more about politics, financial markets and world in general. We also possess better critical and analytical skills than people before us. Based on current trends I just don’t see what will make future generations smarter or more sophisticated than us.

I hope that I am wrong. I would be very happy to find out that there is a significant flow in my logic. In fact a lot will depend on quality of education. Both, teachers and parents, will have to find ways to explain that while it is perfectly fine to use various devices, it is critical that kids learn math, writing, reading, history and sciences in traditional manner in order to become successful. If they can do that, there still hope.