Technology is to Blame if You're Fat and Lazy

Published on March 19, 2006 By Ionolast In Misc

A line from the body of terpfan's new article here Link "consumers seem determined to move less" started me thinking: (I hate that. lol) Ever since the fifties, we've been hearing how "labor saving devices" would make our lives easier. "You won't have to work so hard. Machines will do it for you."

The dream of fully automated/computerized homes (which are starting to become a reality), cars that drive themselves, etc have had a lot of people thinking, "Won't that be great?" Now a lot of people don't even have to leave home to earn a living. Robots are becoming more and more commonplace; replacing the human workforce.

This could veer off into why companies want to use robots instead of humans, so I'll just leave you with a few lines from 1968's "In the Year 2525" by Zager and Evans.

In the year 3535
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth,
Tell no lies.
Everything you think, do and say
Is in the pill you took today.
In the year 4545
You ain't gonna need your teeth,
Won't need your eyes.
You won't find a thing to chew,
Nobody's gonna look at you.
In the year 5555
Your arms hangin' limp at your sides.
Your legs got nothin' to do.
Some machine's doin' that for you.

Usually, people who write Sci-Fi underestimate how long it'll take. Here's a case of overestimation.

Comments

on Mar 20, 2006

Lol. Good article. I know I'm overweight because of my own eating and life habits. I am the result of my own decisions.

I remember some cartoon showing a line of people waiting to use "easythink" machine that had few options:

1: Political
2: What to eat
3: (something)
4: (something...)

THAT lazy I hope I will never be...

Ionolast

on Mar 20, 2006

I know I'm overweight because of my own eating and life habits. I am the result of my own decisions.

Yes, but does technology influence your decisions?

Dr Guy

on Mar 20, 2006

I am not overweight because of technology.

Gotta run and order some more eclairs on the www.eclairs.com site.

on Mar 21, 2006

Technology is neutral. It doesn't walk up and force me to use it. It's purely my own decisions.

Ionolast

on Mar 21, 2006

Technology is neutral. It doesn't walk up and force me to use it. It's purely my own decisions.

Technology makes it easier to be lazy. Besides, some robots can walk. lol

Zoomba

on Mar 21, 2006

Just because it is easier to be lazy now, doesn't excuse those who choose it. It's 100% my own fault that I spend so much time sitting on my rear in front of a computer screen.

The fault lies entirely with the individual, not with the tool that allows the behavior.

AngelaMarie88

on Mar 21, 2006

Just because it is easier to be lazy now, doesn't excuse those who choose it. It's 100% my own fault that I spend so much time sitting on my rear in front of a computer screen. The fault lies entirely with the individual, not with the tool that allows the behavior.

It's hard NOT to sit on our butts when most everything is done for us already. Activity is no longer built into everyday life like it was when people's survival depended on plowing the fields, harvesting food by hand, hunting for meat, drawing water from the well.

It's not natural for people to drag themselves to the gym (on top of the rest of their busy day).But people generally HAVE to force themselves to do anything active.

I, for one, DO force myself to get active, but it just ain't natural to have to force things like that. It's fun doing gymnastics though. I wish everyone did, then I wouldn't feel like such a weirdo when people stare.

Everyone, force yourselves & GET ACTIVE!!

Ionolast

on Mar 21, 2006

Exactly. Technology is an enabler.

Zoomba

on Mar 23, 2006

Exactly. Technology is an enabler

Every advance in history has been an enabler to this end. Just because something ENABLES a behavior does not mean it CAUSES said behavior. Cars enable laziness as they make it easy to not walk to the corner drugstore... but they do not remove the option to do so. Telephones enable laziness as you don't have to walk to your neighbor to ask a question, you can just call... but they do not remove the option.

Yes, the average office dweller is cube-confined for 8hrs out of their day... but what about before and after? What about during lunch? What about on weekends?

It is not hard to be active. It takes relatively little effort to remain marginally healthy and somewhat in-shape. Walk for 30min in the morning. Ride your bike a few days a week for a little while. Garden in the spring and summer. Go for hikes on weekends. There are a million little things you can do to stay active. It's not hard to do most of them. Going to a gym is for those who want the washboard abs, the bulging biceps and to look fantastic in a bikini.

People look for excuses as to why they're out of shape, overweight etc. They want any reason aside from themselves. "It's not my fault!" Is the rallying cry of people who try to blame that which makes poor behavior possible.

Dr Guy

on Mar 23, 2006

Every advance in history has been an enabler to this end. Just because something ENABLES a behavior does not mean it CAUSES said behavior.

You are going to make a good conservative yet!

DJBandit

on Mar 23, 2006

I life style has always been to make things easier for myself. I love remote controls, I love using my computer to do things for me. I also have really bad eating habits, all in all I am guilty of me being overweight. I chose to do the activities that make me overweight and I chose to ignore the ones that could help me defeat it. So in reality I don't blame technology.

dynamaso

on Mar 23, 2006

The fault lies entirely with the individual, not with the tool that allows the behavior.

My thoughts exactly. Does this mean people will start suing technology companies for their obesity problems?

I think having to find something to blame for one's problems is the biggest problem we are facing in society.

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