Since the dawn of human existence, we’ve been driven by a powerful instinct (to make life easier). From the first time someone rolled a log under a heavy object to invent the wheel, to today’s growing reliance on artificial intelligence, the pursuit of convenience has been relentless. And in many ways, rightly so. These breakthroughs have freed us from backbreaking labour, given us access to knowledge at lightning speed, and extended both our lives and our potential.
But there’s a hidden cost. One that’s harder to see because it feels so… comfortable.
With every new convenience, we risk losing a little more of what once made us resilient, capable, and self-reliant. As the old saying goes, "Use it or lose it." Our ancestors survived by hunting, building, growing, navigating, problem-solving. Today, most of us survive by sitting (at desks, in cars, in front of screens) while gadgets and algorithms do the hard work for us.
It’s not just physical. Our brains, too, are underused. Why memorise directions when Google Maps does it better? Why calculate when a spreadsheet can do it in seconds? Even conversation (once a deeply human skill) is increasingly outsourced to chatbots and curated replies.
And here’s the irony: even when we want to do things the “hard way”, society often doesn’t allow for it. Want to walk to work? Chances are it’s too far and you’ll lose your job from constantly being late for work. Want to cook from scratch? You’ll need to carve out time that a fast-paced schedule rarely gives. Want physical exertion? You’ll need to simulate it in a gym (we call this thing exercise now, because a vast majority of our jobs require us to be anchored to our desks for hours on end each day).
We’ve built a world so optimised for ease that doing things the natural way has become unnatural!
I’m not against progress, and I’m all for convenience when it’s warranted. It’s just a reminder to stay human in the face of relentless automation. We can enjoy the benefits of modern life (and still choose challenge over convenience when it matters). Walk when you could drive. Think when you could Google. Create when you could consume.
Convenience is a wonderful servant (but a terrible master). If we’re not careful, we risk becoming observers in our own lives, letting machines not only do our tasks, but live our lives for us.
Let’s not be killed by convenience. Let’s stay alive (in body, in mind, and in spirit) by doing things the hard way, sometimes, just because we still can.
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