Computers are a Tool, not a Solution

I saw that statement in the N.Y. Times this morning. Computers are a tool, not a solution. It got me to thinking.

In order to successfully accomplish tasks, tools can often be helpful. An 18-wheeler truck is a tool which provides immense help in transportation; the same with a forklift truck, a farm tractor, or a backhoe. A pipe wrench makes the job much easier when one is working on threaded pipe. A volt-ohm-meter can be a $9.95 tool or they can cost several hundred dollars. The cheap one is just as good as the big, heavy expensive digital one for almost all electrical tasks.

There are so many tools in our lives nowadays. Brooms speed up cleaning the floor, vacuum cleaners the carpeting, and sewing machines do a much better job than hand sewing and are quicker too. Flashlights are wonderful, and flashlights which shine red don't interfere with your night vision. Televisions allow one to watch movies from the comfort of one's own home, rather than having to go out to a movie theater. Microscopes and telescopes help people see and understand things which normally are not visible. Telephones improve communication by order of magnitude, and the twenty first century version, the cell phone, helps even more. Cell phones also do useful things like keep track of your shopping list, run your diary-calendar, take photographs and movies, and send and receive text messages. They can be a useful tool. If you text while you drive a car, they can also be deadly. If self protection or hunting are important to you, then a firearm is an extremely powerful tool.

Some think that an automobile is mostly a status symbol or a way to lure in hot chicks, but mostly they are just tools to get you from here to there. If they are quiet, comfortable, have decent air conditioning, and get good fuel economy they have achieved most of their purpose as a very useful tool. They don't need to go boom-boom-boom from a 1,000 watt stereo, and chrome wheels only are an impediment which just need to be cleaned more often.

Less than 1% of computers are used for hard core number crunching by scientists. In the context of kids and high school or college, computers are mostly used to communicate with one's friends, to watch videos, or play video games. Kids who use computers for writing actually seem to be less skilled when it comes to capitalization, basic sentence structure, and spelling.

Computers in the classroom are not an end in themselves, but are simply a tool. The important issues are: Can the kid solve simple algebra equations to help them get the correct answer to problems? Have they learned the most important lessons from history? Do they know how to research a problem, and can they recognize a real answer or solution as opposed to one presented by a con artist simply trying to take their money? Have these kids learned how to manage their money, balancing cash outflow with cash inflow, or do they get themselves horribly, deeply in debt after purchasing too much consumer trash as soon as they have the opportunity? Can they recognize and see through dishonest fanaticism, or are they taken in simply due to their own ignorance and lack of experience?

Tools can make one's life more productive. But they can also get in the way and actually be an impediment. Most of us know people who seem to actually be addicted to constant use of their cell phone for texting and their computers to check out Facebook or Twitter. These people are like prescription drug addicts or alcoholics – their lives become dominated by assuring their regular fixes. Going without their drugs becomes a massive problem. The video game addicts may be the worst.

Useful tools can become horribly dysfunctional. It is all a matter of balance and keeping things in perspective. The losers get sucked in, the survivors don't allow these tools to dominate their lives; they understand they tools are only a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

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