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STUPIDITY & TECHNOLOGY

Is information technology making us stupid? As we rely more and more on mobile phones, tablets, and video streaming devices, are we thinking less? Are we less aware of our surroundings?

If we can believe a poll commissioned by WGBH Boston, stupidity may indeed be advancing as technology advances. The poll, with 622 adults participating, was conducted in late March. Nearly half- 49%- of those surveyed said that technological development fosters stupidity; 46% said it makes us smarter. Only 51% of Americans said the benefits outweigh the risks.

Younger respondents were more likely to link technological advance with stupidity. Millennials and Generation X (53% of each) were more likely than their elders to link technology with stupidity. Just 38% of those born before 1946 did so. Dr. Lee M Meringoff heads the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the WGBH poll. Meringoff said, “If you think young people are all in for technological revolution, think again. This national survey shows surprising differences among generations and their appreciation for innovation.”

Nearly three Americans out of four said technology improves education. A narrow majority (54%) said it makes us more productive. However, 71% said it makes us less human. And 54% said it undermines relationships with friends and family.

Our own view is that technology doesn’t have to make us stupid. Certainly it can tempt us to mire ourselves in trivia. We can waste our time on porn, cat videos, and interactive games. Social media can encourage vanity, and we all know people who text while driving or walking. Some people seem to be wholly unaware that a world exists outside of their electronic devices.

Our parents and our grandparents warned us about TV and radio, citing most of the same concerns, but most of us managed to lead normal and productive lives anyway. If we are wise, we will use information technology to inform ourselves and enhance our productivity. We don’t have to be oblivious to our surroundings. Our machines don’t have to rule us.

(To get the most out of information technology, you need a reliable internet connection. Is yours adequate? If it isn’t, talk to us. We can help.)

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FORMAL SCHOOLING VS YOU: PART III

What do you hope to get out of formal schooling? More specifically, what do you hope to get from higher education? Is it a lucrative career? A well-rounded personality? The ability to converse with almost anyone about almost any topic? Acceptance in certain social circles? The chance to meet people who can help you succeed?

Whatever your goal, it’s entirely possible to meet it without spending years in a stifling classroom environment, and without piling up tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

High school students are told, over and over again, that a good career is impossible without a college degree. But is this true? Most often, the time spent in pursuit of a degree would otherwise be spent in the labor force, in travel, or in business ventures. Whether they succeed or not, these pursuits are learning opportunities. After a few years of them, assuming we’ve put forth reasonable effort, we are likely to have contacts, referrals, and experience producing products or services of real value. These traits are often valued more highly by employers than college degrees.

Even if we don’t learn much through formal schooling, the degree is a necessary credential, isn’t it? Don’t the best jobs require degrees? This may have been true for many years. When college graduates were rare, degrees may have indicated unusual merit. With millions of baccalaureates flooding the job market every year, though, the degree means less than it once did. The degree is a much less reliable signal of experience, knowledge, or effort than it once was. Many employers, therefore, are looking for other measures of career fitness. A LinkedIn profile and five minute Google search may reveals more about an applicant’s communication ability, work ethic, and commitment to completion of tasks than a degree will.

At the very least, some would say, the formal schooling environment offers effective networking. This is questionable, though. College students typically spend most of their time with people of roughly the same age. Most of the student’s acquaintances are studying the same subjects, and are doing the same things with their time. Almost nobody the student knows is active in business or the labor market. His social network is too narrow to benefit him very much. If he wants to cultivate contacts that will help him find employment, the college environment is the wrong place for it.

Whatever you hope to get from higher education, the formal school setting might not be the best place for it. If you look for them, you are likely to find other ways of meeting your goals. And these other ways are likely to cost much less- in time and money.

(To get the most out of informal learning, you need a reliable broadband connection. Talk to us. We can help.)

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There is a specter haunting advertisers, marketers, and manufacturers all across the fruited  plain. It is the specter of the sharing economy.

Many of the young are turning their backs on the very concept of owning much of anything apart from toiletries and clothing. They see no need to buy cars, houses, appliances, and machine tools. They can rent or share them as the need arises.

Since much of our consumption, and much of the nation’s gross domestic product, is tied up in the purchase of goods we use only occasionally, our settled economic milieu may be ripe for disruption. We buy and maintain vehicles that we drive only one or two hours a day, so they’ll be ready for us in case we need them. We spend more than half of our lives away from home, and volatile career paths may induce frequent moves, so purchasing real estate may mean stranding resources in illiquid assets. Our appliances and our machine tools are idle most of the time.

These patterns of consumption waste massive amounts of money, material, and energy. Recognizing this, many Americans have embraced the sharing economy. Ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, and home-sharing services such as AirBnB, are only part of the first wave.

In concept, the sharing economy is not new, though the applications cited above are. The first major manifestation of the concept was the public library, its first wares donated by wealthy people whose books would otherwise gather dust. Through the lending library, a book that might otherwise be read by only one or two people in its entire existence, might be read by dozens in a single year.

Building on the success of Uber, Lyft, and AirBnB, entrepreneurs are extending the commercial sharing concept into other fields. The pioneering efforts of Uber and Lyft in the ridesharing market have opened the door for related transport services. RelayRides, a venture backed by Google, enables borrowing of cars from neighbors, by the day or by the hour. Spinlister is a peer-to-peer network for the sharing and renting of bicycles. Boatbound, “the AirBnB of boat rentals”, helps users reserve boats in any major city near a lake or other navigable body of water.

The sharing concept has begun to make inroads into the labor market. TaskRabbit is a mobile market for the hiring of temporary help: tasks ranging from repair to delivery to cleaning to administrative work, even commercial art and writing. “Rabbits” must undergo interviews and background checks before being listed in the system. Zaarly is a peer-to-peer market for home and commercial services. It differs from Taskrabbit in seeking to create “stores’ for particular types of services: iPhone repair or lawn care, for example.

The sharing concept may solve problems that are otherwise insoluble. Where will you leave your dog or cat, for example, if you’ve scheduled an extended trip out of town? A kennel is far from ideal. With DogVacay, you can leave your pet with other pet owners who love animals, and who will give yours a level of care you wouldn’t expect from an overworked and indifferent kennel employee who is responsible for dozens of animals.

One of the most important developing opportunities in the sharing economy is commercial real estate. Long term leases of offices or merchandise display space may not make sense in a fluid economy, and some business owners may just rent them for an hour or  a day, as needed. Some nomadic souls may exchange support pads for tiny homes.

If you’re tired of accumulating goods you seldom use, the sharing economy has much to offer you. And it’s barely getting underway.

(To participate fully in the sharing economy, you need sufficient bandwidth. Talk to us.)