Technology is the application of knowledge in order to change and improve the world. It includes everything from early human tools such as the wheel and the bow and arrow to modern artificial intelligence such as chatbots, self-driving cars and voice recognition systems. It also covers a wide range of other emerging technologies such as virtual reality, Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain games.
From the Greek techne (work, skill) we get our word technology, which originally referred to skills of working with wood; later, it became a broader concept that encompassed any skill. For example, Hippocratic writers argued that medicine was a form of technology. However, not everyone agreed. Goethe, for instance, criticized industrial technology in his novel Faust. In recent times, dystopian novels like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange have been widely read as a warning against technological over-reach. And Theodore Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, was an outspoken critic of modern technology.
As a result, it is crucial to understand how technology affects us both positively and negatively. Whether it is a question of whether robots should be allowed to drive, how much time we should spend on our phones or what kind of standards should be in place for governing global technologies, it is important that we take the time to understand how the world around us functions and how technology can change it in positive ways. For this reason, it is more imperative than ever that we study technology.
