He comes home from baseball practice and immediately watches ESPN. My mom gets frustrated because he and my youngest brother do very little around the house. They do not grasp the work that my parents have put into the house, their jobs, etc. to make their life “easy”.

My youngest brother is a freshman in high school and for some reason he absolutely needed a cell phone. Why? You’re a freshman, you can’t even drive.

Now, everyone and their dog has a cell-phone, digital camera, iPod, etc. These are the kids of the “ME” generation. I’m on campus of a local University and you see everyone walking around with a phone shoved in their ear. And, there are always instances of these “ME” generation kids that don’t have the common courtesy to turn them off during lecture. How dare the instructor tell them to turn off the cell phone. Who IS (s)he to tell me anything?

Laptops were supposed to make us more productive and free us from the office. And, mobile phones were supposed to make our lives easier. No more missed opportunities of having the spousal unit stop for some delish fast-food for the family meal that is eaten in front of the 52″ HDTV, Tivo capable, satellite entertainment unit just because they are already in transit and can’t be communicated with!

Well, I’m rambling. But, while technology has some awesome benefits like being able to pinpoint radiation to the size of a pinhead, it also has drawbacks such as affecting the attitudes of the “ME” and “ME2” generations.

I gotta run now — I need to go check my email, pay my cell-phone bill via the internet connection, all while I watch my favorite cable program while recording another with my Tivo.

Bryan: You win the award for longest comment ever, but you make a good point in regards to the state of family in this day and age. I’d argue that the focus on family life has dwindled because of a change in priority.

AkaXakA: Primal instict is prevelant in business? You don’t say! I could ramble on but I think I’ll save that for another article.

Beto: Good point. There aren’t many jobs or careers out there where the computer isn’t the central hub to business activity. In fact, for most jobs if you took the computer away there would be a disconnect in business function. I’m not saying you’d be out of luck, but you’d have to go about performing various tasks without using the computer as a tool, resorting instead to a calculator, paper and pen (or pencil).

Jonathan: Sure it’s obvious, but aren’t most things? Your hypothetical questions are great and to answer the first one, I think it works both ways. Whether you placed a man from the 16th century in 21st century or vice-versa, I believe there would be extreme difficulty adjusting to a certain lifestyle.

Thomas: Yes, all good points. As I mentioned above (in response to Jonathan’s comment), no matter if you transplanting someone from this century to another century from the past or vice-versa there’s always going to be conflict due to that specific individual’s struggle to conform to society and culture.

Both of these conditions can be further explained by conditioning. We, as humans, have been conditioned to function at our peak levels given the tools we’ve created for ourselves. That isn’t any different than 16th century man. Matt Burris argues that 16th century man would fare better against modern man. In certain situations, possibly while in others, absolutely not. If 16th century man’s life depended on being able to operate a phone in order to call an ambulance for himself, he’d be out of luck. Inversely, I doubt many people today possess the knowledge to properly bandage, touriquet or cauterize a wound; first-aid 101 type-tasks commonplace during the 16th century.

Additionally, modern’s man’s impatience isn’t so new. I suspect that if I was a 16th century man, I’d rather ride a horse for two days than walk for seven. If it’s possible to have it sooner than later, than why not? On the other hand, I don’t know anyone who would rather experience a weekend at the beach in a few minutes. We devote more time doing the things we want, and less time doing the things we don’t. Who would want to spend hours sweeping the carpet, when you could just vaccuum it in a few minutes, or better yet, put your roomba to the job?

Even since I began doing web stuff for a living, I always have felt neccesary to get and practice job skills that don’t require the use of a computer. Unfortunately, jobs like that are few and far between these days, and pay amounts aren’t even close. I don’t think adopting an Amish lifestyle is the answer to all problems, but some balance is certainly on order.