Technology has become integral part of twenty first century. I believe that contribution technology has made to modern life is mainly positive, though it has come along with several downsides. All in all, the quality of human life has improved with new technology inventions in day to day life. As Adrian pointed out during the symposium that technology has become a part of us” and even it can have control over us whether with the way we travel or the way we commutate, how we approach the creative side of things and i totally agree with this comment.Technological determinists believe that “‘You can’t stop progress’, implying that we are unable to control technology”
Technological determinism share two general ideas:
- That the development of technology itself follows a predictable, traceable path largely beyond cultural or political influence, and
- That technology in turn has “effects” on societies that are inherent, rather than socially conditioned or produced because that society organizes itself to support and further develop a technology once it has been introduced.
Today technology has pierced in every aspect of our lives : from entertainment to communications, travel and tourism to nuclear weapons. Modern televisions,electronic game consoles,latest movie theaters have given a whole new dimension to entertainment industry. Communication has become zoom speedy , thanks to latest technology phones,computers and internet services. Emails,text messages have made daily contact with society so easy and feasible. Travel and tourism industry is flourising in this technological era. Jet planes ,automatic cars have made travel around the globe super fast. Believe it or not, health care has improved drastically because of cutting edge technology today. Cures to many diseases like cancer, heart diseases are only being made possible because of latest inventions and equipments.
“Every coin has two sides” ,modern day technology also has created several negative effects in human lives. Many people see technolgy as a force that has escaped from human control. They believe technology has made life very complicated. People fail to enjoy simple pleasures of life like watching a sunrise, hearing birds chirping or smelling fragrant spring flowers. They have become so hooked to latest technology that living. Simple life is almost unimaginable today. Thinking about spending 24 hours without internet or phone makes us feel bored! Hand written letters have become a thing of past, walking and biking is now replaced with running on electronic treadmills in an indoor exercise gym.
I agree that inspite or these downsides of technology and inventions, our lives have become better. I can’t even imagine the life without them without car, airplane or phone and Internet, etc. without their support, I couldn’t be who I am today, I couldn’t be sitting here writing this in another language in a country that 3218.15 miles away from Vietnam. We are more efficient and productive in day to day lives and technology is revolutionary way of improving quality of our lives. It as part of a larger spectrum of human activity, technological determinism sees technology as the basis for all human activity.