Many young people think that cell phones and portable computers are the most important aspects in society, but it is astonishing to think back to our ancestors and realized that they did manage to survive without all this technology (however improvable young people may believe). Though it is a fair question to ask; if technology got better, how come we are still working the same amount if not more?
The question is definitely interesting and can be explained in a variety of ways. For example when I was a student at FGCU, I would be told by my philosophy professor that thanks to technology, things like farming and mail distribution has been optimized and have created a certain amount of abundance to our culture here in the United States, but he always followed up with; what do you think happened to the average farmer once the tractor was created? Do you think that they are now all just sitting under the shade of a tree, drinking in the benefits of this new technology? The answer he told me was an obvious no, in fact he would describe an effect that came in between the traditional farmer that listened to the natural growth cycles and the modern farming corporation; human ambition. This barrier was what made it impossible for the traditional farmer to survive in the farming industry, and has casted a metaphor that is as clear today as it was in the eve of the industrial revolution.
To many old economists surprise, the modern worlds automation has not made all simple workforces obsolete, yet, but it is important to note that it hasn’t made life easier. People are still going to wake up early and work hard for there meals, and look for ways to improve there situations so that later generations wouldn’t have to deal with as much adversity as they did. So why improve at all? Maybe the answer is the poison, human ambition.