While ancient and modern tools serve as an extension of our physical selves, today’s technology also allows us to extend our mental selves. This is what Amber Case discusses in a TED talk on her  reasons for becoming a Cyborg Anthropologist.

While she opinions that technology is helping us become closer to one another, she’s concerned about the dwindling amount of time people are spending being close to themselves; time where we turn off our laptops and cell phones and engage in some good old self-reflection.

Journalist Carl Honoré  shares a similar concern. Check out his TED talk below where he discusses our need for speed in a ¨roadrunner society¨.