Is technology making Americans fat and lazy?

Question

We no longer grow our own food. We no longer walk to our destinations. Cleaning our houses is less physicalloy demanding. We can ride elevators rather than climb stairs.
Is technology to blame for the poor physical condition of Americans. Who do we place the blame on.. Technology or Humanity..?

Answer 1

Looking back on the history of other civilizations, as each society became more developed and lived in more of a thriving mode instead of a surviving mode, constituents did in fact become more lazy and fat. However, we must not put the cart before the horse because just knowing this does not necessary reveal the relational cause/effect. The less time we have to spend just trying to survive, of course the more time we have for leisure. With the advancements we have had in technology just in the last 25 years, we have gone from a society where only hard physical labor fed a family to more of a welfare society. Even those who do work do not have to put in extremes of physical labor just to survive. Sure, there are some very physically demanding jobs, but things just aren't like they used to be.

Regardless of what technology is available, no one is forced to use their leisure time sitting around using that technology. There are still many people who do their best to stay physically fit even though they use technology a great deal. Their are others who are quite lazy but own very little in the way of technology. This shows that though there may at first appear to be a correlation, there indeed is not.

Overall, I think the blame should be placed on humanity. As in other societies, Americans choose what they will do with their time. We can choose to take the stairs for exercise if we are able-bodied. We choose whether to be couch potatoes or stay on the computer for hours or to do physically demanding activities. It is totally up to us. With the technology we do have, we can easily get fat and lazy just from the sheer fact that the physical demands for survival are not strong like they used to be, but there were fat and lazy people when America was in a survival mode. We deserve the blame because the ultimate choice is ours.

Answer 2

Yes.

Technology is created by those who wish to accomplish more by doing less (a human frailty). The result is physical and mental dysfunction.

Better health, physical and mental, is found in those who stay physically and mentally active, thereby enjoying better rest as well. That is the life we evolved with, not this present one.

Technology evolves rapidly to give us a competitive edge, but our own physical evolution is much, much slower.

The mismatch is made possible by our highly evolved brains, made necessary by our adversarial nature, and made tragic by our physical condition.

We have to seek a balance. Bill Gates limits his daughter to 45 minutes of computer time a day. How much time are we spending now?

Answer 3

Unfortunately, I think some of us have evolved to become fat so that we can survive the times of famine. The problem is that we don't have any famine so we just get fatter. We need to recognize this and don't keep eating until we are full. We need to exercise. We need to make sure the kids don't stay glued to the tube. We still survive longer than at any other time. Technology has its advantages as well as disadvantages.

Answer 4

Both.
One, because technology is making our lives so much simpler, we don't have to do "back-breaking" work that would give us the exercise we need.
But, i also think that it's humanity because WE'RE letting technology take over and not do stuff our selves...just my opinion, you can call me hypocritical.

Answer 5

Blame yourself for eating a lot and not blame the others for what they do good.
Whay don't use stairs instead of elevater?
Whay not to plant instead of buying?
Whay not to walk, bicyclin instead of driving?
Come on....
Change your main meal for lunch insted of dinner and you will loose a lot of weight,

Answer 6

...Our body is a machine and we need the energy enought to maintain the systems "on".
...If you eat little, you die. If you eat more the necessary you are fattining (without limits).
...The matter is inside our minds. We need to educate us.
...The tecnology we use easy, thus we spend minus calories and the result is more weight.

Answer 7

Fast food too.

Answer 8

yes go to mc dees

Answer 9

no home schooled does