Jamais cascio's "Get Smarter"

Jamais Cascio, in his article “Get Smarter,” begins by reflecting on how by in the past humans through adapting to situations that may be potential threats, have made us essentially smarter. We alter our brains to adapt to any abnormal situation that we may encounter. The technologies that we operate today are so detailed and up to date. They match exactly what we need and it is hard to imagine what could get better than this. However, we must acknowledge that this is how our ancestors have thought for centuries. Thus, it is only a matter of time until a new breakthrough in technology occurs and the current ones are thrown out of date, old, and useless. Cascio explains the amazement he finds in all the detail put fourth into today’s video games, and graphics as well as Pharmacological advances. Having pills that now permit us to concentrate for hours pass ones normal capacity, you would think that it is the pill making us smarter, however It is not the pill that is giving us the information but its enabling us to figure things out that would of been impossible before without the concentration. Technology and the contemporary way of life have allowed us to start having "fluid intelligence." In other words, with all the tons of information coming at us every day we only pick up little bits and store it without even thinking about it. A good analogy would be like that of a waterfall always overflowing and you having no other option but to undergo it. Cascio mentions also the possibility of a future computer chip that may be inserted into ones brain and programmed. He expresses that with this comes the danger that we may all not think alike. Therefore, if we’re all thinking alike we can never excel. It takes a contrast in back round and cultures for our world to truly grown and without those, we are essentially doomed and will fail to launch. Cascio does indeed believe that technology has made us smarter but there are definite cautions we must be aware of in this journey of advancements. In order to move forward into the unknown future technologies and mile stones we have yet to conquer, we must first be willing to adapt to new circumstances, and grow from them, in order to get there.

In “Get Smarter” Jamais Cascio is definitely pro-technology and optimistic for what the future holds. He claims that it is our technologies, the constant adaption to new circumstances, and how we grow, deal, and advance from these situations is how we get smarter. I agree with Cascio’s claim, and it is even true in my life from what I’ve observed; you can only truly grow if you go experience and deal with an issue for yourself. Therefore, by our society continuously striving for new solutions to problems, we become smarter, and from there are able to grow and advance.