A Paper Against our Present Dealings with Technology and More of a Focus on How to Deal with it

Wake Up and Feel the Power of Technology

Once, Winston Churchill said "we shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us"(Dubos 1970, page 171). Technology is currently primarily employed for commercial purposes, and it will soon build a system on which each of us will be dependent. It's important to keep in mind that innovations like computers, TVs, and printing presses are more complex than simple machines. Only in our perception of reality are they "metaphors." The emergence of technology can be attributed to political and ideological processes, which have shaped its current form. No matter how sophisticated they get, computers should never take the place of our own fundamental cognitive abilities, such as consciousness, judgment, reasoning, and perception. As social creatures, we misuse technology and lose sight of our morals. Technology will continue to spread; therefore, we must deal with it with discipline even though we cannot stop it. 

According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), it is predicted that increased productivity would result in higher living standards worldwide and that global communication will enhance our understanding of one another (COMMUNICATION - a key to human development, n.d). However, what will happen if those in positions of power who wish to influence public policy have no background in political science, history, or above all human interaction? We become so engrossed in our technologically mediated culture that we fail to see alternative forms of knowledge acquisition and social interaction. The method we choose to use technology matters, not the technology itself. 

Currently, large corporations aren’t interested in free markets, rather they prefer captive markets where customers who make purchases out of habit and ignorance of rivals (Dertouzos, 1999). Most programmers as well as those who know how to profit from them find that communicating over email is more convenient than in person. Galileo brought reason into human concerns during the Renaissance. This resulted in numerous victories and a realist way of view. Quinn (1992) notes that “Our technologized culture shapes and fascinates us to the extent we don't even see other ways of knowing and interacting with the world and each other.” We no longer know how to apply the reason that got us to this technological juncture. The public's desire for an increase in the minimum wage is one recent topic.  That is simply not possible in the modern world. Our enterprises operate throughout half of the world. It might take decades before wages begin to rise again until unemployment declines in nations like Bangladesh, India, and China. 

Although technology has made life convenient for most people, the process of resource extraction, power expansion, and perpetual growth in energy consumption appears to be headed for ecological, political, and economic catastrophe within the next few decades, at most. We are prone to destroying the earth. We could not carry on living in a tribalistic manner indefinitely.   Maybe in the future we will figure out how to use resources for energy without harming the environment. The issue is that there is not much time left. In order to preserve ecosystems' carrying capacity, fewer people must live on Earth and utilize less energy and matter per person. Overpopulation will almost certainly wipe off humankind within the next century (Person, 2023). The demands of 12 billion people cannot be met by modern agriculture, which Daniel Quinn refers to as "totalitarian" due to its extreme detachment from the natural world (Quinn, 1999). We should already be dead because this theory has been put forth previously. Thus, nobody is aware. Before it's too late, I think we should at least move quickly to begin employing "nuclear fusion," which is the process of fusing atoms to offer practically endless amounts of energy without endangering the environment. 

I've heard the claims that technology has made people more unified and will ultimately create a nearly ideal world. Pew Research Center (2019), quoted a representative of Middle Eastern Telecommunication Directorate saying that “As far as technological history is concerned, there has been no single case that the advance of technology and innovation has worsened the lives of individuals. This is similarly valid for AI.” If the representative’s claims are accurate, then I think that things will become lot worse before they get better. Since technology is a science, it must undoubtedly advance, but because it is developing so quickly, it must do so wisely. It is far too simple to ignore this advice these days and use financial gain as a justification for advancing technology. 

In conclusion, information is information. Instead of having this information thrust upon us, we must comprehend it and come to it via a "thought process." Technology is a human science. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of technology ought to be just as vital as, say, elementary school math. It's not today. As social creatures, we misuse technology and lose sight of our morals. Technology will continue to spread; therefore, we must deal with it with discipline even though we cannot stop it. Wake up, feel the power of technology or get destroyed without knowing! 

References 

Communication a key to human development. COMMUNICATION - a key to human development. (n.d.). https://www.fao.org/3/t1815e/t1815e01.htm 

Dubos, R. (1970). Biography of Winston Churchill. Page 171.

Dertouzos, M. L. (1999). The future of computing. Scientific American, 281(2), 52-55.

Pew Research Center. (2019, October 28). 4. the internet will continue to make life better. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/10/28/4-the-internet-will-continue-to-make-life-better/ 

Person. (2023, December 14). Overpopulation as a global climate and social concern. Population Media Center. https://www.populationmedia.org/the-latest/overpopulation-as-a-global-concern 

Quinn, D. (1992). Ishmael. New York: Bantam.