Undoubtedly, the rise of the Information Era has brought countless miracles to human society.

Nowadays, an average modern citizen holds within their hands the most miraculous and
revolutionary technological advancements seen in eras: from the smartphone, a machine more
powerful than any mechanical contraption ever imagined by our predecessors, allowing us to
navigate, send and receive information in a heartbeat, and watch cat videos on YouTube; to the
toaster that perfectly prepares our breakfast every morning, technology has been integrated so
deeply into our daily lives, and thus, navigation skills and such is no longer essential for survival.
It is from this obvious conclusion of the dependence of humanity on technology, that an
argument guaranteed to cause passionate debates between experts in the field and close-
knitted family members was proposed, concerning the inability to complete tasks of many
people without the aid of technology. The aforementioned statement shall be the aim, and to
resolve any possible misjudgements shall be the pursuit of this essay.

Firstly, the proposal that people are devoiding of the basic essential skills, owing to the
presence of technology, shall be brought forward. It is an inevitable fact (which has recently
been confirmed by a survey from Cambridge University) that many citizens find themselves
confounded when it comes to the so-called "basic skills", map navigation for instance. However,
whereas most modern citizens are, matter-of-factly, lacking the skills to start a fire without a
lighter or matches; stating that they lack the "basic skills" is not identical. The reason behind
this can be found in the definition of "basic skills" itself. "The only constant in the universe is
change", and the definition of a word is not an exception. Throughout different periods of
history, "basic skills" can have radically different contexts. For our ancestors in the Prehistoric
Ages, basic skills involved effectively organizing an animal hunt, efficiently picking up wild fruits
and berries, and carefully nurturing the young. In the long days and nights of the Agriculture
Revolution, basic skills, essential for the survival of not just one individual, but whole
communities, were evenly spreading wheat seeds and turned to the local gods for the hope of
an abundance of bread. Skipping forward to the fumes from the Industrial Revolution, 'basic
skills' ranged anywhere from operating dangerous machines without protective equipment to
starting a revolution. Henceforth, in the Information Era, lighting a fire may prove to be trivial
to forgetting your own phone's password. In short, the term "basic skills" have changed.
Nowadays, the skills essential to humanity should not be hunting wild animals, but writing
codes, remembering passwords and fixing rebellious toasters whose breads constantly get
stuck and burnt. All and all, is the deterioration of the basic skills due to our oblivion, or our
ignorance?

Needless to say, the inability to complete certain actions without the aid of technology is
obvious. However, that is not necessarily of much concern. Using the same formula, an
argument can be raised about how humanity is completely dependant on oxygen to live -
indeed, in environments such as outer space, this would be a real problem to resolve, but
overall, the matter of oxygen dependence is trivial to an unanswered email, demonstrated by
many in breakfast. As accurate it may be about how people may be disorientated without their
cellphone or GPS, or attention should be focused on other issues.
In the light of the aforementioned arguments, one may feel safe to say that the concern about
the reliance of humanity on technology is quite unfounded.