technology - good or bad

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Knowledge: Good or Bad?

Toma Claudia Andreea group 136, B Series

Academy of Economic Studies Faculty of Business Administration October 2010

Abstract

This paper dwells upon positive and negative aspects of technology in general.To reach a better understanding of the concept of technology, a definition followed byits explanation is provided with some relevant examples. The history of technology isimportant to know in order to avoid confusion over the meaning of it, confusions thatare presented in the introduction paragraph.

The desired elements of technology are discussed in the Benefits of technology section, insisting upon how technology leaves its positive print in past

and modern society.The bad side of technology is extended in the second section of the research paper, focusing upon subjects like unemployment, pollution and the depletion of natural resources, accompanied by examples for each of them.

Finally my personal opinion is presented in the ending of the research paper.

Introduction

Imagine yourself living without technology. Would you be able to survive? If you offered a positive answer to that question you might not know what technology isall about. To clarify the situation, Im going to start with a simple definition of the

word technology. So, technology is defined as the branch of knowledge that dealswith the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society,and the environment. So we see technology as an extension of our capabilities. It canreach into places man could normally not. It exists to satisfy humankinds needs anddesires. Since people exist on Earth, they had to put man labor to make an everydayliving, finding shelter, food, and clothing. They also had to work for satisfying their desire for comfort and leisure. As time passed, man invented useful tools, machinery,materials and techniques to make their labor easier, thus more productive andefficient.

When people think of technology, they usually set their minds on sophisticatedtechnical devices, like i-phones, laptops, Bluetooth and 3D, but this approach isfaulty. Technology has existed since the dawn of man. One of the first technologieswere stone tools, the ones used to chop, cut and hunt animals. Human ancestors have

been using stone and other tools since long before the emergence of Homo sapiensapproximately 200,000 years ago. The earliest methods of stone tool making, knownas the Oldowan "industry", date back to at least 2.3 million years ago.

Another interesting piece of technology was the discovery of fire. The exactdate of its discovery is not known; evidence of burnt animal bones at the Cradle of Humankind suggests that the domestication of fire occurred before 1,000,000 BC.Advancing into history, man discovers the use of metal, and creates helpful tools,more complex and complicated. The wheel is being invented. The invention of thewheel leads to transportation, first of products, then of persons. Starting in the UnitedKingdom in the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution was a period of greattechnological discovery, particularly in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing


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mining, metallurgy and transport, driven by the discovery of steam power.Technology later took another step with the harnessing of electricity to create suchinnovations as the electric motor, light bulb and countless others. The list could go on,

but we are all familiar with inventions and technologies of the contemporary era, thatits not worth mentioning.

So, in a way, technology could be compared to those inventions whichinnovate and boost the already existing ones and bring a helping hand to peopleeverywhere.

But does technology bring only positive contributions to our lives? Further,two aspects will be discussed, the good side and the bad side of technology.

Benefits of technology

As argued before, technology was present everyday of our lives since our ancestors were born. If it werent for technology, maybe our evolution would be under a question mark. It would have been much harder or even impossible to put the basisof a civilized world. Think of how a big city would look like without a sewer system,or how cold winters would be without heat, or think that probably you wouldnt beable to see people of other races. Transportation is a huge outcome of technology. Itsa big thing that you can reach any part of the globe choosing from severaltransportation options, according to budget, location and so on.

About 10.000 years ago, people learned to rear animals and grow crops.Because of the development of farming, people gathered in small groups. As peoplegathered, man labor increased and surplus food was produced. Population increased,towns, cities appeared and developed. Other types of jobs were created, other than infood area. This division of labor made civilization a reachable target.

If we were to speak about the benefits of technology in general, we wouldhave to focus on the main advantages presented and discussed below.

First, it increases production. Through technology, people experienced avariety of goods and services to benefit from. In the 1800s, people and animals werethe main labor source on farms. Farmers worked from dawn until bedtime and still

produced enough food for only four persons. In the early 1900s, the situationchanged as machinery was used to do what a person had done, like tractors for threshing and sowing and other electricity-based machinery. Nowadays, in developedcountries, machinery is used to do most of the work man used to do, acceding theratio of one person producing for 100 other ones. This example can apply for other industries, like mining, manufacturing and others.

Secondly we can talk about the positive effect over labor (because the negativeside is to be discussed in the next section). Although technology increased production,it also reduced needed manpower to yield goods and services. This resulted inincreased productivity, which also leads to more leisure time for the workers. Peoplewho used to dedicate 12 to 16 hours to their jobs, six days a week, now have theability to enjoy some free time to spend as they please. They couldnt afford takingholiday breaks, or dismissals, but now, thanks to mechanization, they spend around 8hours at work. This means that technology has made jobs easier and safer.

Another thing technology has provided is a higher living standard. This hassucceeded increased production of goods and services. More than that, it hasincreased life expectancy. Improved public health has decreased the chances of viral

and bacterial infections as well as the spreading of plagues. Better nutrition and health practices also reduced the number of mortality. A good example represents the current


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condition of Central African people, where human life expectancy is around 40 years,while in Western Europe, average ages fluctuate well over 70 years. This translatesmainly in technological capabilities.

Disadvantages of technology

Undesirable effects of technology have become an issue in many countriesaround the world. These serious problems arose when technology was used withouttaking into consideration the possible outcomes that might bring happiness or unpleasantness. A good example would be in the late 1890s when people were soexcited of the invention of the automobile leaving behind the odors animals left

behind, animals which were used for transportation, that they didnt take into accountthat the cars might produce exhausting fumes, much more dangerous to a personshealth than animal faeces. Also, cars produced even more traffic congestion in cities,making automobile-travel more time consuming than horse-back riding.

Following the same plan as with the desirable effects of technology, there arethe following disadvantages, presented below.

Pollution of the environment is a big concern when coming up with newer technology everyday. Today, many regulations and rules must be obeyed concerningthe protection of the environment, the so called eco-friendly trend. Its futile to insistupon the numerous types of pollution technology has realized, since the effects of it isa mundane subject, topics like global warming caused by increased carbon levelscoming from cars, fertilizers, refrigerators, sprays and so forth, water pollution caused

by factory spills and incorrect usage of high tech.. Also the noise pollution from car frequented areas is an undesirable effect of technology.

Consuming, either its about electricity, water or any other indispensableutility, technology is all about depletion of natural resources. Using electricity meansusing irreplaceable resources like oil, coal and other fuels. Some experts argue thatwater is also a limited utility and that it should be used carefully.

As mentioned before, technology can create high rates of unemployment. Itsthe case when in a factory, a person is no longer needed since a machine is doing the

job for him. But this can also mean that due to mechanization, some industries had thechance to expand and create new jobs, which are more interesting and mindchallenging, rather than physical work. However, the percentage of jobs created dueto mechanization is much lower than the percentage of unemployment provoked.Another disadvantage of technology is of course, wars. If war weapons wouldnt have

been created due to advance in technology, perhaps wars would have been a story in a

fairytale book.A more subtle undesired effect of technology would concentrate itself uponhumans and society. People who have the power of a civilization can influence thecitizens freedom, even if they dont suspect it. Through creation of banks and

banking procedures, they created a system which is to be said to enslave us in a dailyroutine; you might have heard protests with signs claiming Dont be a slave to thesystem, prove attitude against the Big Machine . Practically its constricted humanfreedom by the simple rule of rejection: if you dont comply with the rest of the

people, youre not accepted in society.Also, internet, the ultimate tool of technology, nurtures globalization, which as

time passes, contributes to the fade of a civilizations culture, traditions and societal

identity. How much does a culture of an Italian and a culture of a Romanian differsnowadays, comparing to hundreds of years ago. I see this loss as a negative aspect of


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technology. Losing values is probably the worst part of advance in technology, aspectthat is ignored and that will eventually lead to an homogeneous global population,which will also lead to huge monotony.

Conclusion

Advancing in technology means that we are more and more dependant to it.Just think of how helpless you feel during blackouts and the chaos it brings. Imaginesomething like that might happen on a larger scale. People would become violent and

powerless if somehow they are deprived of their beloved technology. Technology iscatchy and if someone cant afford it, because usually technology is a money maker,he or she will refer to stealing or even crime.

Technology somehow made us use more brains rather than body. Te percentage of people capable of running a marathon has decreased a lot. Technologycan make us healthy, but it can make us ignore some basic rules of a longer life.

The opinions about technology are split. As argued internet is great, you canchat with people from all over the world, you can find out information in real time andhave huge resources to work with, but internet can be a real brain-washer and an ideamanipulator. E-mail is really useful, but spam is annoying. This is an excellentexample of abusive technology usage.

Technology can create new interesting jobs, but can destroy them as easily.Technology feeds more technology and as time goes by more time will be producedfor humans. This time can be used constructively, but usually thats not the case.People will become lazier; they will forget what real work is all about. They will

become so dependant that its not the case of evolution anymore, but of a contrary, thedevolution of humankind.

My opinion is that technology is neither good nor bad, but rather depends onthe intention of whos operating it. Technology is just a tool and its up to us if wewant to use it constructively, or of a contrary, have a Hitleristic gene in us and want to

be as destructive as possible. Of course we should have in mind that every biginvention has its ups and downs and no matter how useful a certain thing might be,there is always a dark side of it, waiting to burst when youre least expected.

References

http://www.frihost.com/forums/vt-68796.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology

technology - good or bad

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