Our next Tech Talks event examines the positive and negative impact of technology on society, here is my opinion on the above question:
The Positives
Of course technology has had a positive impact on society and will continue to do so. How we work and how we communicate has been revolutionised, it saves enormous amounts of time and businesses have been able to grow much quicker because of it. It also means we have a more flexible society, one which allows people to be contacted anywhere – people no longer rely on office or house phones and computers, today we have mobiles, tablets, laptops and the Cloud.
Social Media has also had an amazing impact on society in my opinion, an example being the earthquake in Japan last year. Facebook & Twitter allowed families to make contact with one another when phone lines were down. Here in Bristol, a Twitter campaign called #Itsnotmuch raised over £3000 for the charity.
The Negatives
Until recently I would have found it difficult to come up with any major negative impacts of technology on society. Then I met Vipul Patel who is on a crusade to educate consumers on the true costs of technology. Vipul raises concerns on the ethical values of some technology manufacturers and introduced me to the campaign RAISE Hope for Congo. Here the militia, who have killed millions of Congolese citizens are funded through the selling of minerals which are used in our computers and mobile phones.
The Verdict
It’s clear there is a negative impact of technology, though I don’t think that this should necessarily discount the positive impact. I feel that as consumers we should be more aware of how and where we spend our money so that technology can continue to grow in the right way.
Decide for Yourself
If you are interested in hearing more about this debate, come along to Tech Talks in Bristol next Wednesday where we have two speakers examining the positive and negative impact of technology on society. Book Here. Or let us know what you think below.
(Image from Free Digital Photo’s)
Written by: Kerry Hale
May 30th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Any technology is a tool, whether the technology in question is a knife or a smartphone. Just as a knife can remove a cancer or murder a person, a phone can organise a rescue or co-ordinate a riot.
It comes down to us as individuals and the choices we make when we decide to act in (and respond to) the world.
May 30th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Kerry, your view on technology appears to suggest that the definition only extends back as far as the invention of e-mail and social media. With all due respect, any consideration of a question as big as this has to look at all human technology, not just the stuff that’s come along in the last 10 or 15 years in the field of communication. It’s pretty obvious that technology has always had both negative and positive impacts on society. For example the invention of the bow and arrow (64,000 years ago according to Wikipedia) must have been a great bonus for hunters and feeding the family but also a deadly weapon against other humans in the wrong hands – and of course the same argument can be applied to many weapons through the ages. Moving away from weapons, we have arguably the greatest scourge of our age, the motor car. The car is an incredible piece of extremely useful collection of human technologies that has certainly revolutionised our lives in rather more profound ways than Twitter. However, it has also had a massive negative impact on the environment and directly on human health as a result of pollution and road collisions. The real question is not has technology had a positive or negative impact (it self-evidently has both) but can we intelligently and sensibly take steps to ameliorate the negative and enhance the positive. I believe there have always been opportunities to reduce technology’s negative impact (on the environment or health and safety for example) and as the technology improves that is more true today than ever. The question is, do we have the will (and do our leaders have the political balls) to take the steps necessary to make technology that is more positive than negative on society as a whole.