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What the Amish can teach us about technology


December 31, 2012

Despite our rapid technological advancements, for the sake of our interpersonal relationships, we can learn valuable lessons from the Amish, says Jamey Wetmore, an associate professor at ASU’s Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes and School of Human Evolution and Social Change, research units in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

He writes, “... there are a lot of us who are beginning to adopt some practices that are pretty close to the Amish,” in a recent Future Tense article on Slate. As illustrated in "New Technology Is Making Us More Like the Amish" the Amish do use some technology but in a more regulated manner than most Americans.

Amish families and communities make calculated decisions on what technologies they permit, including when and where permitted technologies can be used. As technology inundates our every aspect of life, “the more we seek to maximize our values by carefully delineating how, why and when we use technology, we’re becoming a bit more Amish,” writes Westmore.

Read Westmore’s entire article at the link below.

Future Tense is a collaboration among ASU, the New America Foundation, and Slate magazine that explores how emerging technologies affect policy and society. The Future Tense channel at Slate features multiple blog posts daily and several full length articles weekly.

Article source: Slate magazine

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