2008 Woodie Awards
Does technology make our lives better?
Matt Flanagan
Opinion Editor
Issue date: 10/29/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
While I must admit that "making our lives better" is a bit on the loaded side, the plain truth about technological advances comes from the fact that its very concept is based on human ingenuity. From our own minds come the power and tools with which to solve (presumably) any problem or overcome any obstacle.
For example, in my population class, we're studying what is known as the mortality transition of the world's population, which is the transition from higher to lower mortality (death) rates. This transition comes about from several factors including medical technology improvements. Medical improvements are the biggest and most obvious factor in terms of increasing our longevity, or ability to resist death. From scientific observation, we can determine a person's ailments and then give them the proper treatment necessary, whether it be vaccines or antibiotics, etc.
Certainly we've come a long way in just this idea alone (though for every good thing there's a bad one -- and over-medication is certainly a problem with pharmaceutical companies taking over the airwaves -- but that's a different topic for a different time), but along with medical technology there's the simple improvements in every day life: for example, certainly you've ridden or driven a car at some point today. Thanks to the latest improvements in automobile technology -- and the safety staff at the manufacturer from which that vehicle was made -- you are able to stand there and read this article, or not, otherwise carry on with your day.
Certainly there are some gadgets in your life that you use every day: whether you have an iPod or a television set for your amusement, or a microwave oven and/or a refrigerator for proper food preparation (another contributing factor to sanitation, which plays a big role in longevity), or computers or cell phones to communicate (among other things), technological advancements allow us to exchange information and ideas or accomplish important tasks.
And, going back to my original statement (and partially something I mentioned in a much earlier issue this semester), technological advancements are achievements of the human mind. They are evidence of the mind's ability to tackle any -- and, presumably, all -- missions, to reach the highest heights, or any other lame analogy you can think of.
Sure, I'll admit there have been some rather silly advancements to meet silly or somewhat useless ends -- see the next article over with corresponding picture for an example -- but even they, in all of their eccentric and otherwise unnecessarily strange glory, are evidence of the human mind to create something for which it is passionate: a technological resolution to a problem.
And isn't that good enough?
For example, in my population class, we're studying what is known as the mortality transition of the world's population, which is the transition from higher to lower mortality (death) rates. This transition comes about from several factors including medical technology improvements. Medical improvements are the biggest and most obvious factor in terms of increasing our longevity, or ability to resist death. From scientific observation, we can determine a person's ailments and then give them the proper treatment necessary, whether it be vaccines or antibiotics, etc.
Certainly we've come a long way in just this idea alone (though for every good thing there's a bad one -- and over-medication is certainly a problem with pharmaceutical companies taking over the airwaves -- but that's a different topic for a different time), but along with medical technology there's the simple improvements in every day life: for example, certainly you've ridden or driven a car at some point today. Thanks to the latest improvements in automobile technology -- and the safety staff at the manufacturer from which that vehicle was made -- you are able to stand there and read this article, or not, otherwise carry on with your day.
Certainly there are some gadgets in your life that you use every day: whether you have an iPod or a television set for your amusement, or a microwave oven and/or a refrigerator for proper food preparation (another contributing factor to sanitation, which plays a big role in longevity), or computers or cell phones to communicate (among other things), technological advancements allow us to exchange information and ideas or accomplish important tasks.
And, going back to my original statement (and partially something I mentioned in a much earlier issue this semester), technological advancements are achievements of the human mind. They are evidence of the mind's ability to tackle any -- and, presumably, all -- missions, to reach the highest heights, or any other lame analogy you can think of.
Sure, I'll admit there have been some rather silly advancements to meet silly or somewhat useless ends -- see the next article over with corresponding picture for an example -- but even they, in all of their eccentric and otherwise unnecessarily strange glory, are evidence of the human mind to create something for which it is passionate: a technological resolution to a problem.
And isn't that good enough?
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