Was thinking about technology adoption at the gym today (ahh, the thoughts of a nerd) and how we–especially Americans–use technology. Once a technology becomes life-changing and commonplace enough, it’s almost as if culture changes such that one must use it. Freezers and refrigerators started out as a nice convenience–now food won’t spoil so quickly!–so we now buy food in larger bulk quantities. We lay out our suburbs in huge, vast sprawls of land, because we can all have cars to take us from place to place–because we can, not necessarily because we should. And we now often substitute face-to-face contact with friends and loved ones with phone calls or emails or simply instant messages. Because we can, not because we should. I’m not trying to make the argument that we’re worse off with technology, or that I somehow yearn for the days I never knew when life was slower. Just that once we adopt technology, we feel that it should always be used, as if it is always better than a less technological solution.

And I wonder if we’ve applied the same standard to medical technology, namely, that we can now keep many people “alive” indefinitely. But should we? Are we applying a perverse technological standard to life and death? I’ve seen patients make miraculous recoveries–their bodies just needing a little bit of extra support for a bit while they let the tincture of time do its work–but when are we using technology inappropriately: prolonging death instead of extending life?

Comments Off on Because We Can Can Can