Friday, September 2, 2022

Technology and Society: How Technology Changed Our Lives

 

Technology and Society

The technological advances, creations, and engineering applications utilised by cultures to carry out particular duties have both helped and hindered both ancient and modern human civilizations. Technological advancements are now required for societies to flourish and develop, 

While at the same time, human societies' cultures, goals, and aspirations have affected how those civilizations have generated, benefited from, and been constrained by technology. Technology and human societies/civilizations have grown interwoven since technical systems are created by humans and reflect the very essence of a population's wants and culture.

 

The creation of various technologies to satisfy the needs of the society is the end consequence of the cyclical relationship between society and technology, which begins with human societies. These technologies alter how societies act and function, which has an impact on and changes their economy and may lead to a cycle of increased demand for technology. Since the beginning of time, there has been a co-dependent relationship of co-influence and co-production, which has led to the co-evolution of two major kinds of this synergistic interaction depending on the sort of civilization in question:



  • Agricultural Cycles: Because agricultural cultures were built on the seasonal cycle, they had a cyclical understanding of how society developed as a result of the application of agricultural technologies. Agricultural cultures' economies were entwined with their technologies since a society's technologies influence that society's economy.

  • Progressive: Although also cyclical, the development of new technologies before and after the industrial revolution allowed societies to advance in social progress in a way that was not always dependent on agriculture. This led to the emergence of more diverse economies and the emergence of new societal novelties, such as an interconnected world (such as the Internet) and globalisation.

 

A human society has been impacted by every single technological advancement, even those that have failed. Since "necessity is the mother of invention," all technology that has been developed was made in order to satisfy the necessities of a society, and as a result, it is inherently linked to the culture and the behaviours of its people. Once produced, whatever issue the technology addresses changes how society behaves and functions, which may lead to new issues, alternative economic systems, or novel ways of life, all of which may pave the way for further technical advancements.

 

On a large scale, the technology may be used by the society only to survive and prosper, or it may assist the society in evolving and achieving higher levels of global advancement through increasing societal efficiency. At the same time, technological advancements may, on a micro-scale, even impact human behaviour to the point of changing human adaptive mechanisms, which would then influence organismal evolution. Even the way societal languages—words connected to advanced technology in a particular society—evolved within specific civilizations has undergone these evolutions.

 

What is Technology?

Any application developed or designed using applied science or mathematics to address a social issue is referred to as technology. Agricultural technology, like those used by ancient civilizations, or computing technologies used more recently, can be examples of this. Ancient technologies like the calculator, compass, calendar, batteries, ships, or chariots might be considered as part of technology, as can modern technology like computers, robots, tablets, printers, and fax machines. Future technology will include sophisticated Blockchain techniques, smarter cities, more sophisticated smart gadgets, quantum computers, quantum encryption, and sophisticated AI.

 

What is Society?

Any organised group of people living in a community are referred to as a society. Societies frequently have some type of government or governance, as well as rules, roles, and an economy. These societies had militaries and educational institutions, developed into advanced kingdoms and even empires with vassal nations in ancient times, and frequently had an agricultural economy in addition to imports and exports. The most technologically advanced nations frequently developed into powerful empires that dominated over other civilizations or kingdoms.

 

The History of  Technology and Society in Changing Our lives

Each civilization, society, kingdom, and empire has developed, risen to power, and then fallen throughout history with technology at the helm. The majority of the fundamental inventions (technologies) still in use today were created by the ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia, the so-called "cradle of civilization," including ships, the wheel, irrigation systems, metallurgy, and one of the earliest written scripts. Every aspect of a society, kingdom, or empire is impacted by technology, which is based on the math and science that is available in that society. This includes every aspect of a civilization's substructure, such as its:



  • Military
  • Architecture
  • Cities
  • Health
  • Communication
  • Government
  • Time/Calendars
  • Record Keeping
  • Language

 

Ancient technology, like Adam's Calendar and the oldest arithmetic-based calculator, enabled the ancient kingdoms manage time, convey numerical quantities, regulate their economies, and expand in size. The oldest science, math, and medicine are found in East, Southern, and Northern Africa. Additionally, technology influenced agricultural techniques, which supported the robust ancient economies and contributed to the prosperity of ancient cultures. The growth of ancient towns and kingdoms was influenced by the creation of irrigation systems, architectural designs, glass, and baked clay. Following the industrial revolution, these ground-breaking discoveries gave rise to megacities, skyscrapers, and farms that now provide food for millions of people.

 

Chariots, ships, and the ancient "Silk Road" all helped kingdoms trade, become wealthy and powerful, and spread their influence, which led to the conquest of kingdoms and the joining of various civilizations. Technology also played a role in the creation of empires in globalisation and ancient trade. Even the most fundamental component of human communication—language—has been impacted by technology. For instance, certain archaic tongues, like the still-spoken Basque tongue, include root words for contemporary instruments connected to the word "stone," suggesting that these words have ancient, possibly stone-age origins.

 

Even though English is an isolated language, it's possible that the development of stone tools thousands of years ago could have an impact on the spoken language of English today if a language like this altered the origins of English terms.


In reality, the invention of stone tools and the capacity to control fire are two of the most significant instances of how technology helped alter human society behaviour and probably even evolution. Both contributed to the survival of early hunter-gatherer societies, which produced the prehistoric behaviours for which Homo sapiens are famous (the hunter-gatherer model before the emergence of agricultural societies), thereby altering the genetic makeup of entire societies and thus, inadvertently, the course of our evolution (genetic flow).

 

Even though English is an isolated language, it's possible that the development of stone tools thousands of years ago could have an impact on the spoken language of English today if a language like this altered the origins of English terms.


All of these technologically advanced kingdoms from antiquity to the present, including the Egyptian and Kushite empires, the Aksumite and Chinese empires, the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires, the Greek, Roman, Mali, and British empires, expanded into empires as a result of their robust economies (resulting from advanced technologies), robust militaries (resulting from advanced technologies), and robust communication and transportation capabilities (resulting from advanced technologies). One could argue that the development and application of cutting-edge technologies have authored history.

 

Throughout human history and following the industrial revolution, humans transitioned from being hunter-gatherers to more sedentary beings whose technology automates many tasks for them. As a result, chronic illnesses and unhealthy diets are more commonly caused by sedentary behaviour while also making life more convenient and "easier." Today, communications can be delivered nearly quickly over the Internet and it is possible to travel around the world in a fraction of the time using aeroplanes, whereas in the ancient era it may take months to send a message from one end of the planet to the other or to go from one country to another.

 

How has Technology Affected Human Life?

In the end, technology has improved human life from antiquity to the present by resolving issues with daily living and making a variety of activities simpler. Among many other things, technology has made it easier to travel, establish cities, and cultivate crops, effectively connecting all nations, fostering globalisation, and facilitating the expansion of economies and the conduct of business. The use of technical solutions may almost carry out every aspect of human life in a simpler, more efficient, and quicker manner, with some benefits and some drawbacks.

 


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