Technological Advancements and Its Impact on Humanity

Author
Mr.Pratik Rajendra ButtePatil.
B.Tech-Agricultural Engineering (Final Year)

Abstract
This paper sketches an overview of Technological advancements which have shown a substantial growth concerned
with each and every field of humanity whether it be the communication systems, astronomy, nuclear powers,
medical fields, automobiles, electronic devices of daily usage or the computers. Everything of the technologies has
its uses and abuses over humanity; both of the views are taken in the account.

Introduction

Relation of technology with humanity

Humanity or Mankind has evolved from

the essence that separates humans from beasts:
the ability to use the mind for reason. Reason is
the ability to analyze, create, deduce, and
formulate. It is reason that enables human beings
to strive to invent; it is through invention that
mankind has developed society and created a
better world.
we could say that technology is the sum
total of instrumentally useful culturallytransmissible information.
Technology, a word with Greek origins,
is defined as, the practical application of
knowledge especially in a particular area.
Technology is a word used to collectively
describe or portray the advancements, abilities,
creations, undertakings, views, and knowledge
of a singular group of persons: we as humankind.

When we speak about the relationships

between technology and humanity, it is evident
that we have to deal with the interrelations
between some very complex phenomena:
technology, science, society or systems of
societies, and systems of rights of a universal
nature.The discovery and development of a large
number of powerful energy sources-coal,
petroleum, electricity etc have enabled humanity
to conquer the barriers of nature. All this has
facilitates the growth of fast modes of transport,
which in turn has transformed the world into a
global village.

Technology and Humanity: A Positive

Side
As the old adage states "NECESSITY IS
THE MOTHER OF INVENTION" i.e. necessities
tend to spawn inventions and each invention is
annexed with the need of betterment and
transmogrification.
Newer and newer advances are happening

All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the
automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks
volumes about his laziness.
Mark Kennedy

by the day. Technological change is in large part

responsible for many of the secular trends in
such basic parameters of the human condition as
the size of the world population, life expectancy,
education levels, material standards of living,
and the nature of work, communication, health
care, war, and the effects of human activities on
the natural environment. Other aspects of
society and our individual lives are also
influenced by technology in many direct and
indirect
ways,
including
governance,
entertainment, human relationships, and our
views on morality, mind, matter, and our own
human nature.
Technological development has provided
human history with a kind of directionality.

As technology advances, it reverses the

characteristics of every situation again and
again. The age of automation is going to be
the age of "do it yourself".

Without the needed technology a lot of

people would struggle with their health. In
addition it saves many innocent lives
Secondly, the advanced technology improves
industry by making it more effective and,
what is vital today, safer for environment.
Thus the speed of improvement is huge and
unpredictable.

Systems which is further extended to mobile

communications and the GPS, the
semiconductor devices that drastically
reduced the bulk of the aborigine (primitive)
Vacuum tubes and could fit 100's of
gigabytes into one's pocket, the fast and
"intelligent" supercomputers.
The advancements are also accompanied by
the reduction in the time, effort and cost for
production of any material ranging from the
microchips to the state of art automobiles or
from the sophisticated devices to the mega
structures coupled with ease in design and
development.
Needless to add that these advancements also
invigorate economic development as the
effective use of technology reduces the
material production cost and the overhead
charges which generate savings in the
economy and thus lead to
national
development
Technology... is a queer thing. It brings
you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs
you in the back with the other.
C.P. Snow

Advancement in Technology: A Darker

Side
Problems and potentials often go hand in
hand; problems can be turned into opportunities
Every elements of the universe exhibits two
faces, one is constructive side and other is
destructive side.

Technological advancements have shown a

substantial growth concerned with each and
every field whether it be the communication
systems, astronomy, semiconductor devices,
automobiles, electronic devices of daily
Society has become more and more
usage, bio-electronic devices, building and
dependent on technology. So much so that we
architectural design techniques or the
sometimes lack the willingness to think before
computers
we act. We become impatient if it takes more

than a few seconds to download a copy of the

morning news paper. We expect immediate
responses to our email, and we expect someone
to answer their cell phone whenever and
wherever we call.
Technology is making us so bust that we
can cant even find time to spend with our closed
ones. it would be surprising to know that people
are in contact through chat and online messaging
though they are in same city because they think
its more faster and effective but they are
forgetting that meeting personally can never
replace online chatting.
Humanity is acquiring all the right
technology for all the wrong reasons.
R. Buckminster Fuller

Under the estimation, populations of 65

years old or over will occupy 24 percent of the
global populations in the year of 2030, it will
even be as high as 30 percent in certain nations.
5:1, for some countries like German and Canada
it can be as low as 1:1.
As the saying goes in political parlance that
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely. The same can be applied in the case
of the power given by the science and
technology. The gift of science and technology
have been deliberately abused by the powerful
humanity, time and again. There are natural
side-effects of these gifts, but their deliberately
misuse and abuse outweigh and evils of the side
effects, which could have been modified or at
least minimized to a large extent otherwise.
Human greed, selfish interest, lack of planning
and myopic vision has all led to the abuse of
science and technology.

Lets face it; were a stressed society. In 1986,

33% of worldwide people reported living with
stress almost daily and 60% reported living with
great stress weekly and these stats continue to
swell. In 1994, as many as 20% of worldwide
people reported living with great stress almost
daily. Two things are certain. First, humans are
social creatures. Communication is essential for
the exchange of information and the
development of both emotional and mental
growth.

Weapon engineering
On the minus side there is weaponry
which is the inseparable issue of the new
technologies. Nevertheless, weapon engineering
propels and provides a huge advance. Rivalry
between the countries may also be ascribed to
technological advancements, as the countries
compete for the development of new warfare
techniques and equipments.On the other hand
while many people live in horrible conditions
and famine governments spend a lot of money
on developing weapon industry. Is it the right
way? Maybe the modern technology should
either stop or prevent social disproportions.

The real danger is not that computers will

begin to think like men, but that men will
begin to think like computers
Sydney J. Harris

Artificial Intelligence
Nevertheless some people argue that
science can destroy mankind. E.g.; Robots will
be built to clone humans, robots will take over
the world, the first genetically cloned human
brain will be implanted in a robot which will
enable to feel human emotions, and maybe even
create some kind of robotic offspring. One thing
I would also like to state is technology is only

created by our minds, with our imaginations.

Without imaginations, no technology would
have been created.

Technological Advancements: Present

scenario
Internet Technology

Technology has made people rely heavily

on the new advancements thus making them
lethargic. People prefer riding a car rather than
traveling in a bicycle or a bus or any other
means of public transport. They don't care about
the environment or the harm they do to the
atmosphere by smoking out hazardous gases
thereby depleting the Ozone layer and leading to
overall global warming. Further, people prefer to
use calculators even for small calculations which
can be easily done manually. Additionally
technology has become a part of their glitz and
pride, and their greed has aggrandized.

Another
prominent
technological
innovation that well represents our humanity
today is the Internet. The Internet is the
worldwide, publicly accessible network of
interconnected computer networks that transmit
data between themselves.
The Internet allows for us to, in some ways
make the world smaller.

One machine can do the work of fifty

ordinary men. No machine can do the work
of one extraordinary man.
Elbert Hubbard

Do
Machines
Displace
People From
Workplace?
Machines do not create jobs, they
definitely eradicate the need for human effort.
People make mistakes, machines do not. People
get tired and cranky, machines do not. People
are erratic and unreliable, machines are not.
People think and act slowly, machines do not.
People have very definite limitations of
endurance and concentration, machines do not.
But this did not mean that mechanized systems
would always be dependent on human
assistance. The development of artificial
intelligence and advances in mechanical
miniaturization
has
overcome
these
shortcomings.

In the days of todays stock markets,

financial
infrastructure,
global
news
organizations, powerful militarizes, strong
governments and big corporations, instantaneous
communication is an asset we cannot afford to
lose. The Internet allows for our humanity in
modern day times to interconnect and promote
globalization and information sharing.

Medical Technology
Perhaps one of the most vital
technological advances in our society today is in
the field of human medicine and health sciences.
This field deals with the maintenance,
prolongment , and restoration of human health

through the study, diagnosis, treatment, and

prevention of disease and injury.
Today, modern medicine is practiced
within a well-developed framework of healthcare infrastructure. Research in the field of
medicine has allowed for the development of
many new treatments, drugs, medicines, and
solutions that have allowed for the dramatic
prolongment of the human lifespan. Today, with
the influence of medicine, the lifespan of the
average human is only increasing. Medicine in
todays world provides the most vital of all
services; it ensures the survival of the humanity
as a whole.

Nuclear Technology
It has many vital applications in modern
society, the most prominent of which are nuclear
weapons, nuclear medicine, and nuclear power.
The most controversial of these is, without a
doubt, nuclear weapons.

Even in the area of peaceful uses of

nuclear energy, there are great concerns about
nuclear accidents, damage from nuclear
radiation and the question of safe disposal of
radioactive wastes.
It has become appallingly obvious that our
technology has exceeded our humanity.
Albert Einstein

Agriculture Technology

In agriculture, improvements have been

When you look at the usage of nuclear
technology, you must look at the situation from effected so far on a gradual basis. For example,
the viewpoint of human society as a whole, and in animal husbandry, one has gone from
selection and crossing, to artificial insemination,
not from a standpoint of an
individual.
and embryo transplant technologies None of
these have given rise to fears. But genetic
engineering arouses fears because one moves
across species boundaries. Multiplications and
mutations can develop and progress rapidly in
biological systems. Risk assessment is much
more difficult and uncertain, compared to
physical engineering systems. In biology, one
also deals with systems interactions, such as in
ecology, those are complex. It is, therefore,
important to continuously monitor what is
happening in the field, using the very same
powerful techniques of biotechnology.
We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average
star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very
special.
Stephen Hawking

Conclusion
Needless to say that like any other aspect
of development, the technological development
is similar to a double edged sword which on one
side can kill someone and on the other side can
lead to ones own protection. However, the
decision to use it proficiently in proper
perspective is ones own decision and choice.
If technological advancements are put in
the best uses, it further inspires the development
in related and non-related areas but at the same
time its negative use can create havoc in the
humanity or the world. Technology has, and
will, change the moral fabric of humanity; it is
up to the present generation to heed this warning
and not allow such societal travesties of
immense proportions ever to occur again
Technological Advancements will continue to
advance rapidly as we move into the next
millennium. What is important is to ensure that
these advances benefit humanity as a whole

References: