I look down at problem 45, head shaking in disappointment. My eyes follow up and down the ladder of answers in panic. There are only four. A, B, C, and D. When was the Declaration of Independence signed? Why can’t I remember the date? I remember studying this. I remember going over it time and time again. Reciting the date to myself as I paced around my room. 30 seconds have gone by. Now 45, now 60. My mind is flooding with doubts as time sprints by me. This is ridiculous. If I looked this up on my chromebook I would’ve had the answer in 8 seconds. Why has this become my main focus?

The evolution of technology is stuck on fast-forward, but testing has failed to keep up with its phenomenal pace. Instead of spending what feels like an hour on one problem, I should be using this date that I can’t remember as general information on a problem that doesn’t strain my mind for something the internet could easily give me, and allows me to analyze events and connect them to bigger ideas. I should be finding interpretations and reasoning that only the human brain can think up. The potential of my brain is set aside when I take tests that avoid critical thinking altogether and stick us with never ending ABCD options.

We, as humans, are prone to making technology a substitution for real thinking. There are certain things that the internet cannot give us like our ability to have a sophisticated conversation with someone using sophisticated vocabulary, or to logically scrutinize information that leads to a further understanding of a topic. I never want to be in a world where someone is forced to turn to their phone to solve a simple math equation. But we have been given this amazing gift of technology, and I know that there are so many intelligent ways we could use it to our advantage in our world of learning. Therefore, the types of exams given to us should not be completely altered to fit our new life of technology, but should be shifted enough to balance the advantages technology brings to the table.

We should never live our lives constantly depending on technology to give us quick answers that our languish selves don’t want to find. We should live in a world where our extraordinary technology supports our growth as humans, allowing us to turn away from the unsuccessful attempts to memorize like machines, and leads us on a path of actions only a human brain can accomplish. Think, criticize, reflect. We are capable of so much more than a detailed multiple choice exam measures, and we should be given the opportunity to demonstrate just how amazing our minds can really be when we stop ignoring the omniscient resource that has fallen into our laps. Oh, and by the way, the answer was B, August 2nd 1776, I just looked it up.