Humans and Technology, Essay Example

Jared Diamond points out in his revolutionary book Guns, Germs, and Steel that our earliest ancestors were hunters and fought for survival every day. Civilizations only started with the discovery of agricultural techniques and tools because it made it possible to store food for long-term use, produce food in abundance to feed large populations, specialize in different crafts, and settle down in a single place (Diamond). Similarly, innovations in transportation and industrial technologies during the industrial revolution (Kelly) allowed sellers to expand their markets, lower production costs, and bought goods and services within the reach of more people.

If history has taught us anything, it is that advancements in technologies have improved the lives of an average person, helped connect isolated populations and groups, and increased interdependence between nations. We are once again seeing history repeating itself, though on a much grander scale in the form of globalization. Thanks to internet and information technology, millions of people in developing countries like India, China, and Brazil etc. are moving into middle economic classes and the volume of global trade is unprecedented in history. Thus, advancements in technologies have been a blessing and technology will also ensure our long term survival in the universe. As the movie Avatar (Cameron) predicts, human will explore other planets in the universe in the future, both with the intention of exploring new knowledge frontiers as well as a hedge against a disaster of the kind that brought an end to the dinosaurs’ era. Thus, technology will further improve the average living standards of humans, increase the interdependency among the countries, and will also ensure the long term survival of mankind.

References

Avatar. By James Cameron. Dir. James Cameron. Prods. James Cameron and Jon Landau. 20th Century Fox, 2009.

Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. 1st. W. W. Norton & Company, April 17, 1999.

Kelly, Martin. Industrial Revolution. 8 April 2012 <http://americanhistory.about.com/od/industrialrev/a/indrevoverview_2.htm>.