Pro Tool Reviews: Ah, the good old days when we spent every daylit hour outside playing until Mom made us come home for dinner. And she really did have to make us. Fishing, playing basketball or tossing a football was much more fun than coming inside. That was before smartphones, tablets, and Netflix took over the world. As I reflect on those simpler times, it makes me wonder: Are smart tools making us dumber on the jobsite?
12 comments:
I disagree with the premise that smart tools have little to no effect on the skill of new members in the field. Smart tools exist to give people a level of convenience whereby they can make a job somewhat easier. However, smart tools can do this on the assumption that the tradespeople using these tools know how to do so manually because they have the knowledge to do so without their tools doing it for them. As the author says, "Even though the tool might help set the fastener correctly or cut at the right speed, it doesn’t tell you why, and that’s an important part of the training process." Where I foresee smart tools becoming an issue is among new craftspeople who assume that their new smart tools can take the burden of the knowledge, rather than learning how it works themselves. This is already an issue among cars, which have become more and more complex and computerized in recent years. With this increasing complexity, people have by and large shrugged off the responsibility for basic maintenance such as changing the battery or the headlights. I even have a friend who looked at me confused when his battery died and I asked him if he wanted me to jump it, as he hadn't even heard of jumper cables before, yet he owned a car. When using a tool or doing any task, really, the responsibility of the user is to know how to do said task and why that task is done in such a way. All it takes is a few questions, especially in an era where one can get answers to questions from professionals in mere minutes.
I sometimes get frustrated with articles with clickbait headlines that don’t really live up to the intriguing grabber. This article might have been accurately titled, do phone apps replace the need for human interaction. This has an obvious answer, no. That is more or less what this article was really talking about. I think, however, that an article about smart tools replacing intelligence and common sense should be important. There was one line in the article that read “[Smart tools don’t] tell you why, and that’s an important part of the training process.” This is something that really speaks to me because I am a creature of “why.” I always want to know why, so relying on a smart tool/app at face value makes me feel like I am losing a key part of my intelligence. I do believe that smart tools as a whole (not just tools that tell you how fast to run a saw) are making us dumber because they are taking why out of the equation. Why? Because my phone told me so…this seems wrong. Smart tools take a lot of stuff from us. they take out critical thinking, they take out questioning, they take out a need for common sense. These tools are a crutch and sure they level the playing field to an extent, but just because two playing fields are level does not mean the foundation under those fields are equally strong. (Not sure that field analogy worked, but I went for it).
I heartily disagree with this article. One snippet from it really grinds my gears:"Smart tools don’t replace the need for apprenticeship. They can’t replace human interaction or face to face to relationships. Even though the tool might help set the fastener correctly or cut at the right speed, it doesn’t tell you why, and that’s an important part of the training process.
Think about it this way – can a smart tool make you, the seasoned veteran, even better by dialing in the efficiency to an even tighter level of accuracy?
Sure it can. And you know that because your experience tells you can always learn more and always get better at your trade. The new guys need to know that as well. As soon as we stop answering the question of why we do things the way we do, we’ll begin to lose the art and professionalism of our trades." Um, no. Using a smart tool will allow a crew to work more efficiently ad lose less time due to mistakes. The argument that a pro will know how tight to torque a bolt as opposed to a tool is absurd, especially when we're talking safety. A tool can't get distracted like a person can.
From the way that this article started out I guessed that this article was going to be all about how smart tools are making us dumber and dumber and how we shouldn't rely on technology because one day it will become smart enough to take over the world but in the end I was presently surprised. I think that the author of this article brings us a question that can be applied to technology advancement in general. Sure, technology is now able to do so much more for us and we are forgetting how to do those things for ourselves, is that bad. part of me sees the side that thinks that we rely to heavily on these advancements, it is important and helpful to know the entire process of something and how to do it all on your own, but what would we do if we neglected advancement. We would be stuck in a stagnant environment. I agree with the author that technology helps the experts be more efficient as well. I think as the capability of tools and technology get more advanced, that leaves a person the time to think about the complex things in life.
This is a really interesting article and I think it explains and defends the situation well without just saying smart tools make you dumb or smart tools are dumb. He makes a really good argument about the need for apprenticeship and skilled people in helping you learn how to do your trade. Nothing can replace trying something out and when it doesn't work having someone to turn to to ask why. Because the internet can help you figure things out or answer questions, but so often the answers are so contradictory or don’t really speak into what is happening. The moral of the article is basically to not overestimate how good you are at your trade when you are just starting. Don’t get too cocky and accept when people are trying to make you learn. Even if the situation can be uncomfortable because you messed something up, everything is a learning opportunity.
I think in general technology doesn’t make us dumber, but it does replace certain skills and therefore make people less skilled in those areas as a result. Most people are much worse at remembering phone numbers now that we can just store numbers in our cell phones. People are worse at reading physical maps now that they can rely on a GPS. Thanks to the invention of the automobile, the average person is unable to drive a horse and buggy. One day self-driving cars will probably render the ability to drive in general as completely obsolete.
The thing is, using technology to replace human tasks both reduces error, makes tasks faster, and gives people more time and energy to do the things machines cannot. As this article discusses, smart tools are making it easier for people to learn and making everyone’s work faster and more precise. Eventually smart tools will likely get so go that fewer people will be needed to do the same job as jobs that would once take multiple people a long time can eventually be done by one person supervising several machines. Smart tools aren’t making us dumber, but smart tools are making certain skills obsolete, and when a skill becomes obsolete, people stop investing the time to gain that skill. That doesn’t mean people lose the capacity to have that skill, they just gain other skills instead.
Though the article ultimately answers its own question of “are smart tools making us dumber” with a “no” I can honestly say I could go both ways on this topic. I think, to a certain degree, better technology always leads to the loss of some skill. Very few humans can navigate by the stars. Why? We don’t need to anymore.
And while my instinct is always to argue for the retention of the skill over the use of technology (there’s something sad about the fact that we can’t find our way by the stars anymore), it’s more a sentimental response than anything else. I mean, do you think people were having the same conversation when the electric saw replaced the hand saw or the ax? Did people question whether this new electric gadget would lead to a loss of skill? Ultimately, technology continues to roll forward and the loss of old skills is replaced by the need for new ones.
This is one of the first articles commenting on new-age technology that doesn’t really attack it at all. The author avoids the subject he knows will ruffle some feathers and gets straight into the way people learn how to do things. The fact that the new guys (and girls, cough) have this cool new technology isn’t strictly a hindrance on their experience on the jobsite. Sure, they may take some shortcuts at first or lean on the tech every once in awhile but that doesn’t mean no learning is happening at work anymore, it just means it’s happening differently. He also makes a good point at establishing and maintaining community on the job by saying that the older and more experienced people on the job should still make the effort to teach and mentor the new people and that embracing each other is more important than adding degrees of separation just because of new tech.
I have mixed feelings about this concept. On one hand, I would have to argue that smart tools may lead us to thinking less. The article is right in this respect, you may skip learning certain things before using a tool and just be able to punch in what you need on your cell phone. On the other hand, I'm not sure that it goes as far as to make people not talk to each other and offer each other tips on the job site. If anything, I think these smart tools get to a point where they may just simply be overkill. Does every electronic item we own have to have an app and wifi connectivity associated with it? I can definitely see how it may be useful on a case by case basis depending on the type of tool being used, and perhaps being useful for promoting the longevity of a tool, but I can definitely also see a ton of situations where you may realistically only need a couple switches built into the actual tool itself.
To me, this argument is similar to the argument that asks if graphing calculators are making math students dumber. It asks that if by using these calculators to solve these complicated equations are we making it so that math students are not forced to understand all of the math they are executing and are therefore not getting as full of an education as they potentially could be. I suppose on some level that is true, but honestly, I think these types of tools just make math, and set construction, more accessible to someone who would not otherwise understand the process. By making smarter tools that are simpler to use you are opening up a realm of work to individuals who would not have felt comfortable or even been able to access it before. Of course, trial and error and learning proper practice is important, and experience can teach you a great deal, but why not start from a place of relative ease and move into more complicated ideas and projects from there?
I find this article rather amusing. It asks a question, does smarter technology make the user dumb? Then explains why that really is not true. I bet most people agree and you would have a tough time finding someone who does think that. Throughout time humans have always found ways to make tasks easier, less time consuming, or done with less effort. I think it is human nature to want to be efficient, and I think even the oldest generation now a days would agree that smarter tools don't make the user dumber but allow them to be better and what something and therefore can expand knowledge on something else. The newer smarter tools that the article showcases are rather interesting though. I am all for the saws that stop when they come in contact with human flesh and all that, but these drills are a bit extreme.
When I saw this article’s headline I really thought that this was yet another article attacking millennial for the new technology we use, but I was pleasantly surprised with their conclusion. I firmly believe that although technology is radically changing how we live our lives this definitely does not mean that people are getting dumber. The way we work is shifting and it is moving towards heightened efficiency. Yes, this does at times mean that you don’t have to figure things out for yourself, but it does mean that you will learn how to do things correctly at a much faster rate. I do however understand that the rate that technology is improving can be hard to keep hard to keep up with. Perhaps when job sites bring in these new tools they should take some time to make sure that all of their employees are brought up to speed. I really think that smart tools are the way forward, and in order to make sure they’re implemented correctly we have to ensure everyone in on the same page.
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