When thinking about what technology is, we can
straight away think of several different examples of technology and how
beneficial, dependable and necessary it has become to the planet. Over the last
century, technological advancements have changed the way society works and the
way that we now live our lives. Technology in itself is something that has
existed for millions of years, as humans have evolved to learn from the
environment and in turn the tools that are required in order to progress. Some
of the earlier known technological advancements in human nature would include:
the discovery of fire, stone tools, weapons, clothes, agriculture, ceramics and
domestication of animals. Over time, these factors in the development of human
abilities are what brought about further scientific discoveries that we now
know and use today.
In Erik
Brynjolfsson's book The Second Machine Age (1), the
domestication of animals is considered to be one of the earliest technological
achievements, in response to the question: “What have been the most important
developments in human history?” Different animals were domesticated at
different points in time, starting with the domestication of dogs at around
14,000 BCE. It would not be until 6,000 BCE that the domestication of horses
came about, and a change brought with it in the form of agriculture. Animals
such as the ox were being used to hitch ploughs, making the transition from
foraging to farming a quicker process. This meant that once agriculture came
about, there would be a rise in the availability of food sources. This would
create larger settlements, which would eventually become cities over time. At
this point, large empires would start to shape the foundries of human
settlements and through war; many kingdoms, commerce and customs were
transformed.
Brynjolfsson goes on to explain where exactly in
time modern technology starts and what the breakthroughs were. Simultaneous
developments around the late eighteenth century are what started the fast
growing Industrial Revolution. Developments in metallurgy, chemistry and
mechanical engineering allowed humans to overcome the limitations of human and
animal muscle power. Through the development of factories and mass production
to transport and railways, humanity's first machine age came about. This is
thought to be the point at which the 'modern' world first began and from here
the developments in technology would only get quicker.
As it is known today, technology is something that
is heavily relied upon, due to the changes that have been made to it over many
years. We now use technology as though it were second nature, proving that the
advances made in technology have become embedded in our society. Some of the
things that have been affected as a result of the introduction of technology include:
the spread of news stories around the world, scientific discoveries and medical
research, living standards, communication, the economy and entertainment.
These factors have all benefitted the way in which
people around the world live their lives and how society will continue to
advance further in the future. Humans have developed technology to the point at
which it begins to learn for itself, making life easier to manage and allowing
for mass production. Although technology today is widely used as part of
people's jobs all around the world, the older generations that worked before
modern technology are at a disadvantage. The same thing can be said about those
that are learning skills of the past that are in competition with modern
technology. This is due to the pace at which these tools and skill sets are
being learnt by technology in a quicker and more efficient manner.
The initial stages of modern technology were
created with the intention of making life on our planet easier to manage. For
example, the introduction of the Internet was designed to allow people to store
useful information and communicate with one another, via websites. Innovations
such as these allowed for further advancements to be made, including a change
in the way that we are taught things. However these advancements also brought
with them a change in how technology is used.
To get an understanding of how the Internet has
changed the way we communicate, it was necessary to first understand the
traditional forms of communication, which came before the Internet. From this,
we could then begin to compare and contrast how information sources have
changed and whether they have become more beneficial to this day. One of the
biggest and most important parts of our lives would be the days we spend in
school, where we are given an education, as well as learning early social
skills. Some would say now that there is a change in the way that education is
taught, compared with how it was taught before the Internet age.
In Rupert Wegerif's book Dialogic: Education for
the Internet Age (2), a proposal is made by Wegerif to introduce a new
theory of education that would best suit the society in which we now live. This
theory was to introduce the Internet as part of the current curriculum, as
formal education does not include the regular use of the Internet in the
classroom. He goes on to compare the 'informal education' provided online with
the formal education taught in schools, saying the Internet is a tool that
would prove useful in schools, as it is constantly developing new ways to solve
problems and interact with the users. This introduction to education may prove
useful as children will be less reactive to change in the systems in future and
in response to the opportunities of Internet age, they will be more proactive
and engaging.
This introduction, would allow for new skill sets
to be learnt that are likely to be beneficial to future jobs, which require the
understanding of the current technology. Although this introduction may be
useful in future, the Internet may be excluded from formal teaching due to
other reasons. When learning in the classroom, it is essential that the
teachers can communicate with the students in a way that allows them to
understand problem solving and learn social interactions in person. The
introduction of the Internet however, would go against this method, as it
provides an alternative approach to teaching and uses a different set of
communication tools in an informal manner. For example, social media allows users
to communicate with one another, via messaging platforms. This could be seen as
a useful way to help pupils engage with the curriculum when they are outside
the classroom. However, social media has, in the past, been linked to bullying
and abuse online, which would mean that the pupils would be at risk with the
teaching methods.
In response to the idea of life without technology,
it is certain that the education system would continue to function in a
beneficial way, as it has done for hundreds of years. However, there are
limitations as to how far education can be developed in a time of constant
change and adaptation. There is also the argument that pupils in school may
benefit from having a curriculum that does not include technology, as it would
allow teaching to go back to traditional forms of communication and learning. Education
in the future may incorporate the use of technology more vastly, but it may
also mean changes in the way we communicate, learn and teach.
With the improvement of modern technology, came the
improvement in living standards and health. Through innovative medical
discoveries and scientific research over hundreds of years, society has been
able to further understand how to cure illness and maintain healthy lifestyles.
This includes the improvement in sanitary water sources, pharmaceutical drugs
and knowledge of the human body. As a result of these discoveries, today’s
society is a much safer and healthier time to live in.
To understand how society today uses technology to
its advantage in the medical field, it is necessary to first understand the
stages in which humanity discovered ways to treat illness. This way it would be
possible to see what advantages humanity had hundreds of years ago in
comparison with today’s living standards. Ultimately from this, it would then
be possible to understand whether technology is directly responsible for
improvements today and whether or not we could live without them, as we had
done in the past.
Looking back at the Middle Ages, it is clear how
different life would have been then, when compared with the living standards of
today. Serious illness, disease and short life expectancy were common factors
of this era. At this point in history, many basic medical solutions had not yet
been discovered meaning the spread of diseases like the plague were incurable.
City streets would have been filthy, there was no running water available and
an understanding of hygiene was non-existent.
This lack of hygiene and understanding in the Middle
Ages meant that people living in this period had horrific skin conditions,
sexually transmitted diseases and recurring illness. It would have also been a
time were the only supposed remedies for such poor health would have only been
offered to the wealthy portion of society. This explains why poorer people
would die of young age as a result of the divide in society at the time. The
only explanation at the time for these afflictions was religion, where the people
who had diseases were seen as being punished for the sins they had committed in
their lives.
It would not be until the late 18th
century and early 19th century that physicians would become aware of
a small portion of medical treatments known today. Even at this point in time,
people still allowed the belief of mysticism and spiritual beings to interfere
with medical practice and the choice of treatment given to patients. This idea
of superstition still exists to this day, as evidenced in Thomas W. Loker’s
book The History and Evolution of
Healthcare in America (3), when he says: ‘A better question might be, why
do mystical and nonsensical beliefs continue to hold sway over some of our
medical decision-making to this day? Why do so many people believe in copper
bracelets and magnet therapies for arthritis and other ailments?’ This shows
that throughout history and up until the present day, religion has coexisted
with scientific discoveries and has also had a profound effect on how ailments
are treated.
As many countries today still allow belief to play
a part in medicine, it has become difficult for some people to receive advanced
medical treatment. For example, some third world countries still have witch
doctors, as they believe greater forces cause illness. This belief is what
limits the sufficient medical practices found in more advanced countries, like
America.
Although treatment in the 19th century
was limited, it was also a time period in which modern technological
advancements started to be introduced. This includes the practice of
anesthesia, inoculation and antiseptic principles. It also brought about
inventions such as the stethoscope and microscope, which are still used at a
more advanced level even today.
Medical research and science in the present day are
quite dependent on technology, as the growth in the aging population means a
need for more medicine to be mass-produced. In order to mass-produce at a rate
that suits the growth in population, technology needs to make this process
quick and affordable. Technology also allows for medical research to be ready
for change. For example, bacteria, viruses and infections can develop and adapt
in defense to the medicine provided today. This means that in order to cure
illnesses, an understanding of how to beat it is needed. As bacteria are
microscopic, this means that technology has allowed scientists to monitor
changes in the state of cells and through experimentation, using technology, it
has been possible to test different solutions to the problems faced in advanced
medicine. Ultimately, this will have a profound effect on society in the future
when people become dependable on certain drugs to cure them of illness.
In conclusion to the finding of technology, it has
been established that there have been several dramatic changes in history,
which have allowed us to progress to incredible possibilities. As technology
was once seen as the basic foundries of human existence, it is clear that from
the early stages of human life to the present day, there is a shift in what
technology stands for. What was once considered the tools used for survival and
communication is now seen as endless possibilities in technological
advancements. It has also been established that, the recent electronic
technological advancements have shifted from a useful tools to entertainment
sources. For example, computers were created with the intention of being able
to store information and communicate with one another more efficiently.
However, today computers have the ability to do much more in the form of
entertainment.
Technological advancements in the medical and
scientific field have also been beneficial to the present day. Medicine was
once an unreliable practice, shrouded by superstition and often did not work
correctly, due to the complications and lack of knowledge at the time. Today, medicine
has advanced to such a level that humanity has become dependent on it, in order
to survive. It has also changed the way we live our lives and has brought about
a healthier aging population.
Scientific discoveries throughout history have
allowed humanity to thrive and further understand how the world around us was
created, as well as how it can be maintained in future. Scientific explanations
of the past have led many people to explore the legitimacy of these claims, and
in turn they have brought about more plausible explanations. One example of
this would be the documentation of our planet within the solar system, as many
different theorists have claimed their own discoveries of the universe
throughout history. The scientific theories existing today show how
explanations of the past have led to more believable theories of how the
universe works.
Technology today plays a big part in the future of
scientific discoveries, as we are now capable of space travel, regulation of
the planet and understanding further explanations of the universe. It is also
certain that technology from this point will only further advance, giving us
more possibilities and opportunities to discover things that would have
otherwise been impossible. However, there are still things we do not yet know
about the future of technology. This may include whether or not technology is
something that will be depended on as society adapts and grows, in a time of
constant change. One thing that can be established is that humanity has always
found a way to develop and thrive even before technology of the modern world
came about. Only time will tell whether today’s society can live, as it once
did, without technology.
Bibliography
(1) Erik Brynjolfsson
& Andrew Mcafee, The Second Machine
Age: Work,
Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies (2014), page 2 – 8.
(2) Rupert Wegerif, Dialogic: Education for the Internet age (London: published by
Routledge, 2013,) pages 1 – 3.
(3) Thomas W. Loker, The History and Evolution of Healthcare in America: The Untold Backstory
of Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, and Why Healthcare Needs Reform
(Bloomington, IN, published by iUniverse Inc,
April 2012) pages 23 – 26.
