“Here Are Your Recommendations Based on…”

In our new technology based world, we have so many options in every aspect of life. Can’t find a movie to watch? Let Netflix choose for you based on what you have already watched. Don’t know where to find a good Italian restaurant? Ask Siri on your iPhone to find one near you. All of our everyday things, for instance, our smartphones, allow us to make a decision on something when we have too many options. They also help us find options that we didn’t even know were available to us. Helen Knight experienced this when she drew a blank in the middle of a department store while looking for a gift for her 2-year-old niece. She wasn’t able to easily make a decision on what to buy because she left her smartphone at home.

 

This kind of thing happens to me all of the time. I am almost dependent on my phone when making decisions or finding new things. Like I mentioned earlier, when you can’t find something to watch you can go to Netflix for help. This is another thing I do all of the time. Netflix gives me a variety of movies “based on my interest in” whatever movie I previously watched. I would confess that this is ultimately a great tool when using Netflix because there are too many options in my opinion. However, I cannot be the only one. In the world we live in, everyone is always “plugged in” to their devices thus almost allowing them to make decisions for them or push them in different directions when trying to make a choice.

 

When things like this are discussed, many people will argue that they can stand on their own two feet and don’t need a crutch like a smartphone to make a decision. Nevertheless, when you take away their access to these things they begin to “draw blanks,” just as Helen did, when they need to make a choice. Some may not like how this sounds but in this day and age, we are indeed dependent on our access to these new technologies.

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