What if technology was the catalyst to the end of civilization as we know it? Specifically, the technology that allows for the proliferation of human detachment.

We no longer remember telephone numbers, we store them in our cell phones. We no longer have to rush home to watch our favorite television shows, we simply watch on demand when we feel like it. We no longer print photos. We have refrigerators that can keep a shopping list. Our calendars send us reminders. We have calculators in our hands, so who remembers the math from high school?

App developers are making money hand over fist. Advertisers are clamoring for your attention on social media. The creators of technology keep getting richer and no one is feeding the starving humans in third work counties. Maybe to make yourself feel useful you might donate to charity. More often not it is, let the rich guy form a foundation to feed them.

War is fought in the boardrooms and at policy summits with computers. Computers and information technology is in smart bombs. Fighter jets carry more than a dozen computers with them and all are unable to fly without the computer systems activated. Technology is not only incorporated in the weaponry of modern warfare but also in obtaining and storing intelligence for “strategic planning”.

What if this trend of dependency on technology continues?

Let’s say that humans get lazy, er, lazier. Technology systems are developed that need no human hand in the way it works. Sort of start it and forget it. What happens to the way we manage the poor then? What happens to the way we fight a war then?

In this new world, things would just happen for us and we accept it as the norm. Groceries are bought and delivered. We no longer have to go to the store. Food is prepared for us. We no longer worry about men coming to rob is as our security systems are impenetrable. Our cars drive themselves. Showers, lights, and maybe even laundry are automatic.

We are already on the cusp of life that is maintained for us. It is just over the next technological hurdle. One more smart device and our responsibilities will be to remember to turn it on and charge it. Even that is simply a matter of laying it down on a charger.

What will our day to day life look like? How will our roles change?

Here’s the big question, what if we lose control and our technology becomes all knowing, all providing, like an all-inclusive king?

Thank you humans your services are no longer needed.

What then happens to us?

~Lori O’Gara