The great advancements in technology have changed the world radically. The proliferation of technologies that eliminate the boundaries of time and space have been extremely useful to us. From the way we eat to our definitions of luxury, everything has changed over the past decades. Computers, tablets, smart phones, airplanes, televisions, missiles, rockets, machines, toasters, air conditioners etc have made our lives easier and have shrunk the world into a small sphere. But this marvelous scientific stream – technology – has its own negative points as well. Let’s explore them here.
Positive effects of technology
Technology has made transportation much easier. We can now cover hundreds of kilometers in a single day in the comfort of our temperature regulated cars, airplanes or trains. Trains can help us navigate hills and mountains and airplanes make it possible to cross the 7 seas in a matter of days. One can now view traveling as luxury.
Invention of computers and tablets has made business very easy. One can sell and buy items in a few clicks, post advertisements for jobs and recruit people from all over the world and communicate with business associates from miles away. Face time applications like Skype have made attending conferences easier. Data storage was never easier, thanks to the invention of hard disks and USBs.
Trade has improved tremendously due to technology. Globalization has a whole new meaning and the factors of time and space no more hinder the growth of cross border trading. Electronic fund transfer methods and e-wallets have made the transaction of money easier.
Assessment of remote areas through satellites and exploring the space are no more out of reach.
Technology has made it possible to harness solar and wind energies, reducing the use of polluting non – renewable fossil fuels. This has gone a long way in helping us preserve Mother Nature. Research towards bio fuel and efficient combustion has also helped us curb pollution, which in turn has improved life expectancy.
Internet, a marvel of technology, has made it possible for people to look up information regarding any topic in a few minutes. One can work, learn, communicate and get paid on the internet. One can revive their long lost friendships; reunite with long forgotten relatives on the internet. Literacy rates have been rising due to distant learning courses available on the net. Web Seminars, educational games, globalization and internet research have improved standards of modern day education. Defense systems and medical surgeries have reached new heights.
Negative effects of technology
Although technology has its merits, it is damaging to several areas of life. Addiction to gadgets is giving rise to new psychic problems. Anxiety disorders, eyesight issues and heart problems are on the rise ever since these screens emitting harmful radiations have come into existence. Migraines, arthritis, blurred vision, spine dislocations etc are connected to long stretches of time spent in front of computers. Mobile phones and laptops are a huge distraction to the student community as well as to office goers. Heavy usage of social networking is creating communication gaps. Generation gaps, divorces and rifts are on a rise ever since technology took over.
The streaming of unfit content full of violence and inappropriate activities are available freely to public eyes, causing irreparable damage to the thinking of young minds. Thought processes of small children are very influential, and such content is not suitable for them.
People are becoming lazier and creativity amongst youngsters is dying. Present day games are killing it. Another major issue is security of data. Data breaches due to hacking and phishing is a very common occurrence. We are at the mercy of gadgets to protect our oh-so-precious data. One single tech catastrophe and we’re gone.
Though Agriculture has gained a lot from technology, it has also learnt the use of chemicals. Pesticides and insecticides are harmful for the health of consumers; however this fact is being neglected by farmers.
Another inevitably huge factor is pollution. Pollution in humongous amounts is caused by technology. Part of computers and other gadgets are non-disposable toxic materials that release lead and mercury which are extremely harmful to the society. Cars and other vehicles release benzene, carbon dioxide, etc that cause numerous problems like acid rain, global warming and cancer.
Conclusion: Technology is an ever progressing branch. Science is striving hard to remove the demerits of gadgets, but with development destruction is inevitable.
I’d like to end my quoting Thomas Elva Edison, the famous inventor,
“Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.”
1 reply on “Positive and Negative effects of technology”
Impact of technology
Technology and human beings are coexistent, in terms that these two always go hand in hand, for technology has been a result of human expertise and is also a boon for the human race, but concerns arise the way humans utilize the technology, which in turn has an impact over the future.
For technology has been designed to make things easier, convenient , attainable, all in all a drastic step towards the evolution of mankind, but sometimes the same technology has harmful impacts on people, environment and the society as a whole, when misused.
There are positive as well as negative impacts of technology.
Positive impacts are as follows,
• Ease at transportation : Gone are the days when traveling from one continent to the other was a matter of few months, even going to nearby places was a challenge. But with the emergence high tech technologies, in the era of digitization no boundary no continent is out of bounds, its just a matter of few hours.
• Ease at communication : In the era of modernization and digitization of technology it has become possible to communicate and even see people in space, who with very extreme ease can also produce pictures and weather forecasts with the use if satellites.
Negative impacts of technology,
• Rise in the level of pollution : with the emergence of technology, inventions have been made to cut down the manual work and hence with the rise in usage of machinery, there has been an increase in the level of pollution due to the fuel used to run the machines .
• Depletion of natural resources : Due to constant usage of natural resources like fuel, coal, aluminum etc. , the natural resource are on the verge of depletion as takes millions of years to reform.