Aug 19 2008
Why is technology important today?
Posted by: Codrut Nistor in News

Do you have at least a relative who has something against technology? Come on, you gotta have at least a grandmother always rumbling about those computers, mobile phones, and machines that will bring this world to an end! Well, I hope the situation is not that far off the line, but the idea is that a lot of people are still asking themselves and those around them "Why is technology important today?..." Since "technology" is a word defining almost everything around us, I think we should go back a long way in time, and try to remember where and when it all began. Ready or not, here we go...

When a monkey got smarter than the others, and started to use tools, that was the dawn of technology. The wheel was also a major step ahead. Everything was done extremely slow, in thousands of years. You can call this "evolution," or you can consider it was "divine inspiration," but the outcome is the same: the human race started slowly, but surely, to master various tools, and despite the fact nature around remained stronger for ages, these so-called "technologies" made human life easier. First, it was about adapting to the environment, and now it's about making what we want of the world around, but let's see where does this word come from, shall we?
"Technology" has Greek origins, since the word "technologia"("τεχνολογία") has been formed by uniting "techne", "Ï„Îχνη" ("craft") and "logia", "λογία" ("saying"). While "technology" is often use to describe a certain crafting methodology, this term is much more than that, and I usually think about "information technology" first of all.
Why information technology? In the past centuries, history managed to prove that information is one of the most powerful weapons, and even the latest conflicts clearly proved why is technology important today, but I think we should remain in the civilian field, so let me highlight two or three important things...
First of all, if you're asking yourself why is technology important, better ask yourself how many of your relatives or friends were saved by medical technology. You got a very important answer - technology is important to help humans survive in situations that were a certain one way ride a century ago, or even a few decades ago. I won't get into examples, I will only mention that next big thing I am waiting for to see in the medical technology field is artificial eyes for those born blind, as well as full eye implants for those that were blinded by certain diseases or accidents.
Next, it's environmentalism. A term having a lot of meanings, environmentalism is "hiding" one of the greatest treasures current technology allows us to find and exploit, but certain corporations and governments won't allow yet - absolutely clean energy, and alternative propulsion devices. Also, there are plenty of technologies waiting in line to reduce global warming, but from what I've managed to read here and there on the Internet, a lot of people are still thinking this is more of a hoax than a reality. Well, guys, you should use your heads, check some weather statistics in the last two decades, and then draw your conclusions. If you're living in a house with air conditioning, that doesn't mean global waming does not exist!
At last, and most important - we have the Internet, probably the most important part of the larger "information technology" crowd, together with the computers, these "brilliant idiots"(why idiots? think that a computer is nothing without the humans programming or using it, and you'll get your answer), and all that comes with it - the future, today.
I know the above may not be enough, so I challenge you to answer this question: "Why is technology important today?" for you, your beloved ones, and the entire mankind!





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