Domain

Comments

Why discuss this?

• We are part of mankind & no man wants to destroy or be destroyed by choice
• Every major historical period of development has been heralded by news - discoveries, systems, technologies or materials
• In this age of information explosion & in the 21^st century, mankind and technology have become closer than ever
• In the light of this, it is timely & crucial to put forward the issues involved for sobering confrontation with technology

Technology?

• Technology has the dictionary meaning of utilizing scientific knowledge for practical purposes
• Indeed, even countries are being labeled by the technological development standard - advanced, developed, developing & undeveloped
• Technology has the following attributes:

1. Artificial: discovered, created, developed & propagated by mankind
2. Reality level: heuristics (rule-of-the-thumb), hypothesis (test prediction), theory (tested, specific), principle (generic, general) & law (universal truth)
3. Practicality level: conceptual (theoretical, impractical), specialized (narrow scope, high overhead), general (wider application), conventional (widespread use), obscure (outdated, neglected, classical)
4. Ultimate tool: never-ending tool that can be reshaped, improved & used, as such its usefulness or destructiveness lies in the beholder

The historical trend

• Throughout the history of modern mankind, every stage of major development is initiated or propagated by any of the following:

1. Discoveries: of new places, things, elements, phenomena
2. Materials: stone age, bronze age, iron age, Industrial Revolution, IT revolution, biotech revolution
3. Systems: primal instincts, primal community, ancient civilizations, god & empire, agriculture, renaissance, culture, economic, various political systems, sciences
4. Inventions: stone tools, wooden gadgets & dwellings, wheels, fuels, electricity, transport, telecommunications, weapons, etc.

• Technology is omnipresent in all, as what mankind creates is technology itself
• Mankind has created technology that in turns helps in development which spurs further innovation
• This cycle of creation has led to mankind's development abet unevenly distributed
• It has improved our general chances of survival, protection, safety, comfort & guarantee of a prosperous future
• However, anything comes with a price (as the law of economics)
• Development progresses with the release of others
• To build a factory, school or housing, that land must be cleared of its original state
• To switch on gadgets, utilize the Internet or travel, energy, which otherwise would remain in its original state, has to be consumed
• To administer new medicine, vaccines & antibiotics, funds & resources have to be diverted, but the ailments would evolve into resistant forms that require even more powerful tools to treat

The current trend

• The twentieth century is regarded by many as the century of extremism with:

1. Wars: two world wars & countless battles
2. Technological breakthroughs: medicine, modern development, sciences & network communications
3. Systems: from colonialism to independence to internal chaos, people everywhere have encountered systematic changes to their regions, countries, communities & families
4. Weapons: ballistic missiles, atomic & nuclear weapons

• One cannot be more wrong to regard the extremism & technological development as mere coincidence
• Environmental balance has been disrupted due to modernization
• Ecological systems disrupted by artificial activities
• Global weather, geology, water resources, minerals & landscapes are being altered inevitably & knowingly but often with blatant disregard of consequences

Technology is only & will always be a tool

• Technology is just a tool, man-made & man-used

1. With his legs, a man can walk 4km/h
2. With a car, a man can travel 100km/h
3. With a plane, a man can fly 2000km/h
4. With a space shuttle, a man can shuttle 10,000km/h

• The same man, but with different technology, can make a significant difference - that is the power & concern about technology
• Power: the lure & attraction towards the further encapsulation & enhancement from natural phenomenon; ability to put to more good use within moral, ethical & legal controls
• Concern: promote reliance, dominating focus, disregard of other life components, deify technology & mechanize life

Technology dilemma

• Technology always has the potential for good & otherwise
• It has always been a double-edged sword
• Is technology the truth?: Is the truth only technology?
• Seekers of the truth should not rely on technology, as seekers of technology should not rely on belief
• For technology to take shape & manifest, it needs theoretical foundation, rigorous research & pointed testing
• For truth to surface & be acknowledged, it needs the appropriate environment & conditions
• Technology is grounded in, develops & terminates on the basis of its origins - the origins of mankind
• To aid in development & guard against destruction
• However, as mankind has been so successful that the Earth might be altered in subtle ways
• To further mankind in survival & prosperity and amend the damages resulting from this process are perhaps the missions of the technology tool
• Man, art thou awake?