Ever since man walked outside the garden there has been a desire to grow, achieve and conquer. We have sought out better ways to accomplish tasks in an attempt to simplify our lives. The growth of society can be documented in as short a period as a decade. Now 12 years into the 21st century, we can think back on just the ’90s. Back then cell phones were not a must have to every teen. Home computers were much fewer and far between, and no one had ever heard of a CD player. Tapes were still the best on the market.
 So even in the past few years our technology has evolved so quickly we are afforded luxuries that may not have even been an idea in the last century. I mean, who would have thought there would be a cell phone able to log onto the Internet and surf the web at a higher speed than most computers at the time?
The question I want to pose today is easy. Has our desire for simplicity only complicated our lives all the more? What type of effect has this technology had on our personal and professional lives? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy how easy things are. I can drive my own car places, I can access all kinds of information with the touch of a button and I have running water in my house.
However, what if we didn’t have any of these things? Would our quality of life and happiness decrease if we knew less?
 I bring all of this up because I feel like every time I turn on the TV there is an ad for the iPad 1000 or Windows lesser but equal version of that flat computer iPad mix.  I have yet to understand why it is necessary to come out with a newer version of the same things.
Everything has to be bigger and better. There must be a “wow” factor to every new invention.
I also think all of this technology has affected our personal relationships. I wrote about that aspect in a previous article so I will only briefly touch on it now.
Everything is done so informally now days. We make dates over a text, phone conversations are nearly non-existent and breaking up with someone over an email actually happens. What happened to face-to-face interaction?
Two summers ago, I lived in the Philippines. While I was there I lived in villages in a pretty remote part of the country. We had no cell phones, no computer access and only the occasional stereo that would blast in the wee hours of the morning. Life felt so simple there. We were there to build relationships, and that was honestly all we could do. I had experiences that I had only seen on TV. I climbed a coconut tree, paddled in hand-carved canoe, held a monkey and slept in bamboo houses.
I will never forget one day in the rain I was watching some children play on their version of a basketball court. The ball that they used was flat and it was storming but their faces shone with smiles.
They didn’t have a DS or a personal laptop, and they were more content than many kids I’ve met with tons of things.
I’m not knocking advancements in technology, because Lord knows I enjoy the benefits. However, are they a necessity to our happiness, or do they complicate that simple desire with the “next best thing?” I could only imagine what life was like back in a time when we didn’t have the stuff we can’t live without now.
The goal of technological advancements was to make life easier on humanity. Through this pursuit of simplicity has our technology only complicated a simple life. The rewards are great, but was the risk too high?