As the size of the human population grows, new methods must be devised to boost productivity, transportation and efficiency to sustain growing demand for food, water, goods, living space and other necessities.

Gains in productivity and efficiency translate to less specialized skillsets and intelligence being necessary for survival. Over time challenges and obstacles which were historically difficult and non trivial become more geared to so-easy-a-caveman-could-do-it formats.

There are definitely avenues in which our growing technology influences our culture that are not being widely acknowledged. In the past, someone would have to read books to develop a good knowledge base. Today they need only visit google and do a keyword search to try to educate themselves on topics, they know little or nothing about. The game has definitely changed. And who knows what the long term implications might be.