Technology is something that helps us.
No, it doesn't dumb us down. You require knowledge to work technology (or at least use it to your advantage).
I would say it helps us become more aware. Using the computer to go on the internet helps us communicate to farther places, places some of us could never travel to. Television, satellites, internet, etc. are all technology. It would be hard to get news. Most of them would be by word of mouth (which then would get printed on the newspaper, but how long would that take?). I can't imagine anyone would know what's going on at the other side of the world without technology :P
People can use technology for entertainment or to lose time, but that's their choice. They probably wouldn't be doing anything too spectacular if technology didn't exist *shrugs*. I'd probably still be studying, but I'd have to take notes through paper and pencil instead of using OneNote. Imagine how messy that would be xD