Centuries ago, our world functioned solely on manual labor. Our tools were extensions of ourselves, and required physical competence and an element of strength to use. With modern technology, we use machinery more often than manual labor which makes the work less taxing and frees up a lot of our time.
For example, think about working in your garden. With today tools, we can trim our hedges with ease and speedily with an electric trimmer, rather than clipping away for countless hours with a pair of shears. With lawn mowers we can keep our lawns looking neat and tidy, rather than have several goats keeping the grass down on our behalf (and eating the rose bush whilst they are at it).
Our home lives are simpler, with more time to rest. Electronic tools in our kitchens save us from slaving over a hot stove, as microwaves and oven timers do the work with little hassle involved. Our washing machines and dryers take over the need to hand wash, scrub, and wring out our clothes through a wringer. Vacuums keep our floors tidy, so no beating of rugs required, and dishwashers free up our time washing and drying each dish after a meal. Consider something as simple as taking a bath. This involves just turning on a tap, and filling up the tub, but prior to this, we would have had to go through a process of heating up the water by hand, and filling up the bathtub slowly.
In the workplace, machines have made our lives easier by taking the pressure off us physically, and making work more accurate and precise. Machines used for printing out material, mean we no longer require large printing presses or hand-written work. We use machines for custom work such as custom plastic machining. Teflon machining and vespel machining creates an accuracy we would never have been able to achieve in the past, and machines used for milling and turning offer precision and efficiency we could never achieve manually.
Machines have taken over countless everyday activities and chores, which would take much longer to carry out if we did not have them. We have more free time for relaxation and pleasure then we ever did before, and labor saving machinery has given us a quality of life our forefathers did not have the luxury of.
If you disagree, why not try out an experiment. Remove all labor saving devices and machines in your home, and see how this affects you. Best if you were to do it over a period of a few days or a week, to get a better idea of how much you rely upon modern devices. If you need to wash any clothing, do it by hand, and remember you cannot use an electric iron. I think you will likely find it difficult, as we take so much for granted, and forget how time consuming everyday tasks and chores can be without them. But, if you are brave enough, give it a shot. Personally, I am very content and happy to keep things just as they are.
