Friday, January 16, 2015

How we can say that technology is the death of morality?

Dictionary.com defines technology as:



"the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science."



We humans employ technology to extend our reach in every possible area of our lives. Ancient humans developed spears and arrows in order to better hunt and get food; ultimately, they invented agriculture in order to have a predictable food supply. Humans invented language for the purpose of communication, housing of various sorts for warmth and protection, psychology to understand the mind, mathematics to represent patterns and amounts, and so forth. Computer technology started with Babbage in the early 19th century and has become ubiquitous to life in the 21st century.


While each of these technologies could be argued as having value and contributing positively to people's lives, each of these technologies has also been used for hurtful purposes. The spears that provided food for the table have been used to kill other people. Language enables communication not just for laudable reasons but also as a means to do evil. Computers enable people all around the world to interact with each other but they also enable hacking and terrorism.


As technology has progressed, it has allowed individuals to have influence on large numbers of people. The technology of book printing allowed Hitler to disseminate his ideas in Mein Kampf. The leaders of North Korea use computer technology in the form of their own operating system to limit their citizen's access to information outside of that country. The technology that has allowed nuclear medicine to be a part of healing was also central to the Cold War in the form of nuclear arms, which gripped the world for almost fifty years.


While some would suggest that technology is a panacea for the ills of the world, the history of its use has reflected a tendency to take new possibilities and use them for selfish, hurtful purposes.  

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