Is Technology Limiting Creativity?
Photo by Cora Kuhlenbeck.
Since the world of technology has grown, creativity has lessened. Research and surveys have found that technology is solely a result of generational advancements. Generations such as Baby Boomers and Generation X are not used to the way technology is changing the world and have grown up recording their ideas with pencil and paper. On the contrary, Millenials and members of Gen Z are addicted to their phones and electronic devices like a drug. People relying on a computer to complete their work creates limitations for new customized ideas and innovations. I believe that technology is limiting creativity after first-hand experiences of frustration and misunderstanding of electronic devices.
Millennials and Gen Z are prime examples to show the laziness and lack of effort that is part of the problem. These characteristics come from minimal experiences of the real world and a lack of understanding of one's capability. The leading cause of these issues is how much people of the listed generations rely on technology. These two generations experience everything through a screen, which minimizes how well they are able to interact and cope with the real world. A credible source, Valerie Strauss, author for The Washington Post, states, “What children see or interact with on the screen is only a representation of things in the real world. The screen symbols aren’t able to provide as full an experience for kids as the interactions they can have with real world people and things.” This causes a domino effect for people of younger ages in school and even the workforce. They are unable to manipulate the rules of technology in order to innovate and truly create a vision of their own. Without being able to physically lay thoughts onto a piece of paper with no rules or codes, a creator can’t fully conceptualize their image of a design, product, or output.
The grandparents of this world and other members of such generations are the stereotypes of being “old school.” These words have many different meanings, including not knowing how to use the latest technology or simply being hard-working, determined people. In other words, Baby Boomers and Generation X see the world in a different way because they didn’t grow up on a computer screen. Instead, they researched their way through life in textbooks without finding the answer in one second from a Google Search. These “old fashioned” ways of life force one to be more creative. It forced people to rely on their own innovation to teach themselves or one another things and even allowed them to invent new things that sprung from their creative minds. Essentially, the things the world is accustomed to today are the products of the creative inventions and innovations of the people from past generations. Because of this idea, kids in today's world are less imaginative and are not as capable to elaborate and expand on ideas.
I have experienced first-hand frustration of lacking creativity throughout today's society. By this I mean the things high schoolers wear, or even how one may ask their date to a dance. Almost every corner you turn in high school, most people are dressed the same in some shape or form. For this, we have social media such as Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, and VSCO to thank. Fewer people use creativity to their own advantage these days and instead immediately turn straight to their phones for inspiration. This “inspiration” that everyone turns to is sprung off of one idea and the new opportunities to expand from that though are very restricted. Moving on, I know you’ve probably either seen “promposals,” done one yourself, or started by looking up “promposal ideas” on Pinterest. In today’s world, this includes a poster, maybe little candies and a bouquet of flowers. All pictures are the same, with no new rhymes and similar reactions. Before technology, people had to feed off others’ ideas and come up with their own instead of turning to the internet right away. These are all causes of technology isolating us from the possibilities that are out there; we just don't know how to find them anymore.
Technology has largely shaped today's world for worse and better. It has stimulated the security and convenience to access information, but it has largely limited the ability of people to convey their minds into a screen. Although inspiration is easily found on the web, it restricts the opportunity for exclusive and one of a kind products or ideas. Because of these elements technology offers and doesn't offer, creativity has been shown to decline as technology becomes more of a part of our lives.
