men have become tools of their tools

Even though there may come a time that man becomes subservient to their creations, that time has not yet come to pass. We are not tools of our tools as we are still the ones who decide what to do, when to do it, and how to do it whereas our tools remain just that, tools without intelligence or will with the function to enable us to do what we want to do. It is true that with the advancement of tools, that our lives have changed. We can now individually produce more than we ever could before and the physical expenditure to produce has dropped considerably. Additionally, tools have not robbed us of our humanity but may in fact has helped us to become more humane as we now have the luxury to consider our morality and our ethics whereas in the past, man was too occupied to keep himself alive to truly consider such issues. There is no doubt that science has made our lives easy going, and perhaps it is spoiling us somewhat, but it also giving us the time and opportunity to look beyond our next meal, to spend energy on improving ourselves, and by doing so to develop a higher standard of morals and ethics that humanity lacked in the past so very often. In the opening statement of my opponent, several claims for his side of the argument were made that I will now address in greater detail: 1) Our lives are completely dependent on technology: Even though there are people who may have developed such a dependency on technology that it is questionable that they would be able to survive without it, there are a lot of known examples of people who turned their backs on the modern world and did manage. One of them is David Glasheen [1], a former businessman who lost almost $10 million in the 1987 stock market crash, divorced his wife, and moved to the tiny island named Restoration Island. He's not an average hermit; he didn't just abort every single connection with civilization. He goes to Cairns, Queensland once a year to buy milk powder, sauces, culinary herbs and spices, tea, coffee and other foods which are inaccessible on the island, and twice a month to the nearest city to buy eggs and bread. Glasheen brews beer on the island, which is bartered for fresh fish. Another such person is Emma Orbach [1], a 58-year-old Oxford graduate (who studied Chinese), lives in her self-built mud and straw roundhouse named Tir Ysbrydol (Spirit Land) in Welsh mountains without electricity, running water and other advanced technologies. Her drinking water comes from a nearby watercourse, firewood is from the forest, fruits from her trees and food from her seven chickens and three goats. 2) Technology has made us lazy: Between 1989 and 2006, the share of teenagers who were volunteering doubled, to 26.4 percent from 13.4 percent, according to a report by the Corporation for National and Community Service. And the share of incoming college freshmen who say they plan to volunteer is at a record high of 32.1 percent, too, U.C.L.A.’s annual incoming freshman survey found. [2] 3) Man's so much dependence on machines has made them listless and obese. There is less physical activity, that results in obesity, sickness, and loss of immune power: That a lack of physical activity contributes to obesity is true, however, it are not the tools or our technology that has caused obesity but the choices that we make in how we live and what we consume. For example: Overeating leads to weight gain, especially if the diet? is high in fat. Foods high in fat or sugar (for example, fast food, fried food, and sweets) have high energy density (foods that have a lot of calories in a small amount of food). Epidemiological studies have shown that diets high in fat contribute to weight gain. [3] [4] The above clearly shows that our eating habits have considerably changed in the last 300 years with an doubling of sugar consumption in the last century alone, one of the main ingredients linked to obesity. 4) Human health has deteriorated to a larger extent: [5] As the above clearly shows, life expectancy has constantly risen in the last 65 years which indicates that the average Human has become healthier. [1] http://io9.gizmodo.com...[2] http://www.nytimes.com... [3] http://www.medicinenet.com...[4] https://authoritynutrition.com... [5] https://en.wikipedia.org...[6] http://www.thewalkingsite.com...