LESSON 2 - The Negative Effects of Technology and the Challenges That It Faces
According to Emmanuel Mesthene, “Technology is neither good nor bad, it is neutral.” While technology brings us conveniences and luxuries, as what we have discussed in Lesson 1, it can also cause problems. It is all a matter of how technology is used. Some people now think that we are allowing technology to become our master rather than our slave. This implies that if we are to take advantage of technology, then we have to think about how to utilize it well.
In this lesson, we will discuss the undesirable effects of technology and the challenges that it faces.
After studying this lesson, you should be able to:
discuss the harmful effects of technology; and
explain some challenges technology is facing.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY
Most problems related to technology arose mainly because those who created the technology did not consider their possible harmful effects. For example, many people welcomed the invention of the car in the early 1900s. They believed that cars would be quieter and less smelly than the horses that were commonly used in those days.
But as more and more cars came into use, the traffic noise proved more annoying than the clatter of horse hoofs. Car exhaust also proved worse than the smell of horse manure. The fumes polluted the air with carbon monoxide and other impurities that threatened human health. Also, cars today cause so much traffic congestion in the city that it may sometimes be actually faster to travel on horseback.
Most people did not realize the negative effects of technologies because these effects will only be obvious once they occur on a large scale.
Let’s go back to the flying car example.Yes, the flying car can get you off the traffic, but not for long. Sooner or later, more and more people will have their own flying cars. By then, you’ll experience air traffic, and maybe air accidents as well.
THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY
1 - Environmental Pollution
Environmental pollution is one of the most harmful effects of technology. Most if not all countries now face problems of air, water, soil and noise pollution.
Motor vehicles have grown in number and still continue to increase. They are likely to worsen the air and noise pollution that they have already created. Aside from vehicles, factories that manufacture products also pollute the environment mainly due to the waste that they produce. Open dumpsites, logging operations and many other activities aided by technology destroy the natural environment.
2 - Depletion of Natural Resources
The rapid advance of technology may also cause the depletion of our natural resources. Because of the need to produce many products in large quantities, our natural resources are used up very fast.
The use of electric powered machinery, for example, has greatly increased factory production. However, it has also reduced the supply of oil and other fuels needed to produce electricity. Once they are used up, these fuels cannot be replaced for a very, very long time. As power production increases, the supply of fuel decreases.
3 - Unemployment
Mechanization, or the use of machines instead of manual labor, has displaced many workers or removed them from their work. Machines now perform many tasks that were formerly done by people.
Have you experienced making a phone call in an office where a voice answers you and then tells you to press certain numbers? The voice may say, “press 1 if you want to talk to someone or 2 if you want other services.” These telephones are actually programmed machines that can do the tasks that human telephone operators used to do.
4 - The Creation of Dissatisfying Jobs
Some tasks required by industrial technology fail to give workers a feeling of accomplishment. Most factory workers now do only certain tasks in creating a product rather than creating a whole product. For example, when canned goods are manufactured, factory workers most of the time just oversee the whole process, since the machines do everything including filling the cans, sealing them, and packaging or putting the labels on them. This often results to less job satisfaction for the factory workers. Also, performing the same task again and again can be monotonous and boring.
5 - Change in People’s Behavioral Patterns and Values
Technology provides us with variety and that this variety leads to value and behavioral changes. While variety may be good, the resulting behavioral and value change may not always be positive. With the coming of technology-aided communication, people are able to talk with less face-to-face interaction. Even the way families interact changes.
For example, if the family has a television set, the time that should be ideally spent for family conversation and interaction may instead be used to simply watch television. If the family has several television sets, say one TV for each of the children, the likelihood that the family will spend more time together decreases even further.
THE CHALLENGES TO TECHNOLOGY
Given the extent of technology’s influence in our lives, it faces several challenges today. One of its biggest challenges is how to fight the bad effects of existing technologies. Another is how to prevent similar effects in the development of new technologies. Still another challenge is how to spread technology’s benefits to as many people as possible.
1 - Fighting the Negative Effects
Technology’s bad effects are hard to remedy mainly because there are different technologies to deal with. For example, we have problems about the negative effects of some television programs on children, and the waste created by technologies. This variety of problems will need a variety of solutions. But people have to realize first that there is need to take action. Car makers for example can help solve the problem of air pollution by installing a catalytic converter (a kind of filter) to purify the emissions from car exhausts. Producers of technology must develop means of fighting the bad effects of their products.
2 - Preventing Undesirable Effects
Some experts believe that most harmful effects of technology can be prevented. Any proposed technology should be tested and studied before it is put into use. Such evaluation is called technology assessment.
The purpose of an assessment is to discover in advance all the possible good and bad effects that a new technology may have on society and the environment. An assessment might show that the benefits of a new technology are greater than any undesirable effect. Or it may show that the undesirable effects would be so harmful that they would outweigh any benefits.
3 - Spreading the Benefits of Technology
The benefits of technology are limited largely to the industrial nations like the United States, Japan and Germany. But even in these countries, the benefits of technology are not evenly distributed. This means that the benefits may be felt in some areas or by certain groups of people, but not in other areas or by other groups of people. Meanwhile, many families in the industrial countries lack even the basic necessities in life.
In the Philippines, for example, some people use computers while others have not heard or seen one yet. You can help in this area by teaching what you know about technologies to others. For example, if you know how to operate a computer, you can teach others the basic skills in the use of computers. Or, if the roles are reversed and you are the one who don’t know much about computers, you can take the effort to learn from someone who is knowledgeable.
Let’s Sum Up
Technology has harmful effects like:
(1) environmental pollution;
(2) depletion of natural resources;
(3) unemployment;
(4) creation of dissatisfying jobs; and
(5) undesirable changes in people’s behavioral patterns and values.
Given that it has both positive and negative effects, several challenges face technology. Among these challenges are:
(1) fighting the present negative effects of technology;
(2) preventing the undesirable effects of technology; and
(3) spreading the benefits of technology.
NOTES:
1 – This is an edited copy of the ALS Module entitled “Technology – Its Benefits and Negative Effects.
2 – This is reproduced for teaching and learning purposes only.
3 – The credit goes to the original creator and/or publisher of this module.
