The Cultural Aspect of Technology

The Cultural Aspect of Technology

Technology brings changes in the environment in order to make it compatible with inevitable human necessities; and culture is a man’s compatibility with the environment around him and the relationship he establishes with it. Today, in many developing parts of the world, the lack of progress in technology and science is regarded as the essential cause for general backwardness. On the other hand, a lot of industrially advanced societies of the world deem technological development to be the basis of all social ills. However, many people neglected a standpoint in which technology is autonomous, impartial and liberated of any ideals, whose blemishes and benefits are primarily in the hands of the people who utilize these technologies.

“Too much time online makes you more likely to go offline in real life,” one of the numerous skeptics the traditional societies holds against the modern, mediated culture that basically praises and cheers on the development of new technology. These naysayers to a technologically mediated environment believe that the installment of technology to our culture could strip us from our “authenticity” and innate ability to “emote.” According to them, the people who indulge in technological progress are blurred of technology’s corruption. “[They] are trapped inside their living rooms, roaming the thousand-channel universe and exercising one freedom they still have left: to be the voyeurs of their own demise,” as written by Kalle Lasn in his book, Culture Jam. He, along with many, feel that the cost of the need to change our whole societal structure because of the cultural intervention of technology is too much for its worth in which the technology "might" (or "might not") benefit us. These people fear the possibility, which was taken for granted, that the new culture which technology brings might not even benefit them whatsoever, rather, it would only bring disturbance to the balance of society's ecology.

Opposing the traditional societies’ argument comes the people who worship technological advancement. They insist that technological and scientific advances up till now have brought drastic, positive developments to the society. Yet, just like their contra, they have also adopted a transparent bias that only considers the advantages of technological growth. They choose to overlook the dangers and one-sided monopoly which the spread of technology might bring. Let's take a look at some of the various technological growth up till now to assess the bias of each side's ideology.

Our means of communication has greatly improved in the dawn of the modern technology. We now have so many hi-tech gadgets that we use for everyday communicating with people from all over the world. The telephone is a very helpful mean tool for us to talk with people from remote places, then came out the cellular phones, which many of us take with us wherever we go. Now, we are given the privilege to use computers and the internet that has such a wide variety of easy communication offers. It is one of the reasons why we should be thankful for technology. The disadvantage of this is that too many people can communicate with us all at the same time. In his article Breaking Down Borders: How Technology Transforms the Private and Public Realms, Robert Samuels states:

Some critics of new communication technologies argue that cell phones, laptops, iPods and the other devices we take with us throughout our day encourage a high level of multitasking and prevent us from concentrating on any single activity. Thus, they argue, people not only become more superficial, but the constant switching between work and leisure activities creates a fragmented sense of self and gives everyone a bad case of attention deficit disorder.

This explains why technological spread can create scams and spamming in a lot of ways. Moreover, the youth has been very much addicted to gadgets that they get to spend too much time with it.

There have been lots of advantages with technology when it comes to health. Our lives will never be the same again after the breakthroughs of many medicines and other discoveries. Lengthening our lives is very easy these days. Nevertheless, modern medical technology can also be damaging for human well-being. People must be constantly aware of other modern technologies that can interfere and put the patient at risk. An example of this is the pacemaker, which has the ability to save a person's life and ultimately extend it. However, external factors can interfere with medical technology and ultimately put the patient at risk. For example, radiation from everyday items such as microwaves to wireless devices such as cell phones can affect the pace maker.

The production has also been increased. Now, we can create materials in just minutes with multiple productions at a time. This is what the modern machines contribute to our society. A disadvantage of this is the energy that it uses. It consumes a lot of energy to run the machines. And so, we need more fuel, and it will then leave a lot of waste and pollution to our environment. It is the most destructive price for our today’s technology.

What I am trying to imply and emphasize by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of technology from different aspects is the irony of how neutral technology actually is. As Neil Postman mentions in his article The Judgment of Thamus, “Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive.” We adapt to new technologies and to the new systems which these technologies create. We adapt, by using more technologies. Culturally speaking, technology is neither evil nor disastrous, rather, if used properly, it could raise the welfare of human beings. Nonetheless, it is still a double-edged sword for it can still bring harm and damage to our society and existing culture. It is up to us to import technology and weave it into our cultural fabric, maximizing the benefits of the new technologies while preserving the old ones’.