When man saw darkness, he attempted making light. When he succeeded, he sparked a fire. Years later, a man named Thomas Edison turned this fire into something convenient, something efficient and something that completely changed the way we look at a light today: a light bulb. When we think about it, Edison’s bulb has harmed us in almost no way. Or has it? Machines were intended to make our lives simpler and these wonders have sent us centuries into the future.
From cell phones to a car, from the internet to a watch, each and every machine is made to seem a necessity. The truth is that they are. They make tasks easier to accomplish. A car takes us places faster; the internet answers practically every question; cell phones let us talk to friends from miles away and watches help us keep track of the time. Needless to say, without these marvels, life wouldn’t be close to as easy as it is for the few who have access to them. With all these gizmos surrounding us in almost everything we do, it is hard to deny that we could not live without these creations of mankind.
Beginning as a small network link that connected two research centres approximately 350 miles apartand could only transfer small strands of numbers, nobody ever expected the internet to evolve to become a source of information and entertainment to over 30% of the world’s population today, providing answers to almost every question to millions of users on a daily basis. The internet has supported the growth of long-distance communication with recent progresses enabling video-chatting with users on the other side of the globe. Some may argue that the internet has robbed ‘addicts’ of their physical social and outdoor lives, however, despite the negative impacts technology such as the internet has had on our society, it has directed us toward a more sophisticated, professional lifestyle. If used properly, this network provides a good source of daily entertainment and has completely changed the way most of us carry our data.
Further, talking about the recent advancements in the field of robotics, where robots are being designed to replicate human actions and to ‘eradicate’ human workforces, these complex inventions may seem as beneficial assets, some may argue against the loss of ‘human’ lifestyle and how soon all we know of would turn into ‘virtual reality’. Although prostheses may still be in its initial stages, it has already bettered the ruined lives of few unfortunate people who lost limbs or joints in severe accidents by providing them with advanced machinery that allows them to return to their original routines. In addition, robotics has allowed mankind to break physical limits and progress into space. With detailed studies and thorough research, inventors have turned spirals of plastic and sheets of metal into miracles of science that has helped mankind progress forwards.
Technology, in today’s world, holds meaning for everything, except for us. Because of vehicles, robots and skyscrapers, the face of our world is rapidly changing and shall never be the same. On the other hand, only a small part of our world is fuelled by this ‘technology’, however simple it may be. For a large part of the world’s population today, even overhead showers are ‘state-of-the-art mechanisms from the 1770s’ and x-ray machines are extra-terrestrial life forms. We may say that we live in a world of technology, however, with over half of the world living happily without even the simplest of machines and the remaining half being surrounded by this addictive machinery, technology has not even come close to fulfilling its purpose and has instead proven to be man’s most misleading weapon, while also being the most powerful. With the every tick of the second’s hand, one small bit of technology turns from a luxury to a necessity and with the intensive usage of it today, it would be impossible to live without it tomorrow.
And so, all we can do is embrace it.
