Vonnegut and Technology

“Do you know what a Luddite is? That’s a person who doesn’t like newfangled contraptions. Contraptions like nuclear submarines armed with Poseidon missiles that have H-bombs in their warheads, and like computers that cheat you out of becoming. Bill Gates says, “Wait till you can see what your computer can become.” But it’s you who should be doing the becoming. What you can become is the miracle you were born to work—not the damn fool computer.” -Kurt Vonnegut

Even though I love the damn fool computer, ( :] ) I agree with Vonnegut and think that we are better off without technology. Computers definitely make life easier by not wasting paper, sending emails easily without it taking a week to get to it's destination, and machines make everything happen a lot faster in factories. But if humans stay so dependent on technology (T.Vs, computers, cooking machines, and other household things...) we will all die eventually and the world will end. We'd become obis once they invent a robot that can do everything for you. We'd sit on a couch the whole day and watch T.V, eat, and watch more T.V. If we could just stay smart without using technology, life would be a lot funner to live. People would go out and play sports and stay fit, food would be healthier without a stove, and people would have less headaches if they're not starring at a screen the whole day (Even as I wrote this, I noticed that my face was inches from my laptop and leaned back in my chair). In the story The Euphio Question, Vonnegut explained quit clearly that technology would make people believe things they don't believe, and it makes us all 'fake happy'. We wouldn't really be happy, it would just be some other machine that now injects feelings into our body. By comparing this to my own life, I know that I'd rather sit and watch my favorite show on television than go and jump rope outside in the boiling heat of the summer. I know that life without computers is much, much, healthier, but I think that it would be extremely hard to get rid of my computer and try to live without it. Humans have developed a need to know everything that's going on, and to be connected with the rest of the world. Technology makes that happen. If we just had to stop using technology, we'd be able to do it, but it would be hard.