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AAYUSH MAHESHWARI ENG 108 12/02/09 FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY It is by following clues that we make discoveries, not by reasoning inductively. Now some people would accept this view but nevertheless argue that in science we cannot avoid reasoning inductively. Let us say the law that all metals expand when heated. Now in saying that this is a law of nature we are saying that it holds not only in the past but also in the future. If it is a law of nature that all metals expand when heated, then metals will expand when heated not just today but also tomorrow. But how do we know they will expand tomorrow? Tomorrow has not yet come.
If we know, we can only know by reasoning inductively. The law has held in the past; therefore it will hold in the future. What will life be like in fifty years? Will our home life be more comfortable? Will our jobs become easier? Will our health become better due to new technology? It is most likely to turn out this way. According to scientist, robots will be doing our work, taking over some of our jobs, and monitoring our health on a daily basis. Does this sound unbelievable? This might just be the kind of world our grandchildren will grow up in. It’s hard not to think about having our lives changed by the introduction of these new gadgets.
As for the household aspect, computers will make our daily drudgery of housework dramatically more interesting. In the next decade robots should be cleaning our floors, mowing our lawns, and even cleaning our pools at the touch of a button. Who can imagine what advancements the next fifty years will bring! Home life is not the only thing that will be affected by the growth of technology. Jobs will go from spine busting manual labor to sitting behind a control panel. “Experts say that manual labor will be all together eliminated by the year 2050” (Reed, 3). The teaching profession will also be drastically effected.
Electronic books could replace textbooks and even teachers. Technology has played a significant role in education and continues to be a powerful tool for educators when used effectively. The transportation industry will also see a decrease in human workers. With the use of magnetic tracks, and computer driven shuttles and busses, people will be transported safely and more efficient then humans ever could. Health could be one of the most important subjects for the future; it is also the most advanced. Our health will have the ability to be constantly be monitored. Our alarm clocks will to report your hydration level and signal the refrigerator to prepare you a drink” (Gorman 2). Our toothbrushes will be observing our mouth for gum disease, tooth decay, and abnormal cells. All this will happen without us being aware of the tasks being preformed. “Joystick and keyboard are replacing a steady hand with a scalpel for tricky heart operations, cutting complications and recovery times. The latest technology uses tiny remote-controlled robot pincers to carry out procedures, which previously would have required the complete opening of the chest cavity” (BBC, 1).
The technological progress in recent years has been tremendous. So much so that there is not much that can be done today, without the use of a computer or quite simply, some form of technology. Consequently, technology has acquired a significant role in how we, as individuals live and more importantly, how we survive. When taking a closer look at really how dependent we, as a general society, are so in love with our technology and in reality how scary it is how much we use this tool to run almost every aspect of our lives.
I feel that I could not go out anywhere, even right now and not find some direct correlation of technology influencing my path from A to B. Am I an extremist believing that technology is the devil and will ultimately lead us to our downfall? But I can open my eyes every once and a while and truly see how much of our world is governed by these “great” innovations. I know that it may sound a little hypocritical, I am writing this paper on my new laptop, in a wireless room, and when finished will send it to my instructor in an instant, without any personal interaction.
While first considering how to go about completing this assignment, I tried to keep in mind the one constant characteristic of technology: it is always changing. Technology seems to change faster than most can keep pace with. Even simple tasks like writing letters have changed dramatically over the past few decades. Twenty years ago, the postal system was the most common way for people to communicate through writing. Now people use e-mail, allowing them to communicate with anyone in the world at the click of a mouse.
Other activities associated with writing have also made a shift to computers, condemning devices like the typewriter and the pencil to relative obscurity. The fact that technology is always changing and those things that were once thought of as conveniences can quickly become outdated became my inspiration for this assignment. One can think of past technologies like the typewriter as being left behind to wither and die, which is why I chose to use a watermelon as my canvas to write on. A mango perfectly represents the “life span” of technology.
When you buy a mango, as with any perishable item, you know that it has a limited shelf life, before it rots and becomes unusable. Technology can be thought of in the same way, even though the process takes a longer period of time. Take the CD for example. In the 1980s, compact disks became preferable to vinyl records by most consumers because of better sound quality and overall convenience. Now that mp3 technology is beginning to expand, it seems that CDs might soon become obsolete. One bad effect of technology on life is that with more technology placing barriers between people, face-to-face meetings happen less.
This small, simple change leads to a whole host of very serious problems with society in general. People are becoming lazier; choosing to stay at home and play video games than go to a basketball game or get together with friends. On top of that, the new barriers that are made because of technology gives those who are most affected by them, a decaying sense of pride in their country. In fact, it is this lack of pride that has spurred many of the anti-American feelings that are felt and publicized by people of this very country. Not all technology is bad or evil, but we do need to be careful that we don’t become slaves to our own creations.
Kids growing up in today’s world can’t even remember a time without Internet, mp3 players or play stations. Technology changes so often that as soon as someone buys the latest computer or DVD player it becomes s replaced with a more advanced version available. Because technology is moving so quickly, it drives the prices the down thus making the items easily available (Wilkinson, 1). Have these inventions picked your interest? Have they got you wondering what the future holds? If you think back just ten years and look at the technology compared to today’s it is unbelievable to think how far we have came.
Although the future is unpredictable, we can count on the evolution of these machines. Works Cited Gorman, Christine. “Will Robots Make House Calls? ” October, 1999: 92-93 “Heart Surgeons Use Robot Hands” BBC News 2 February 2000. http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/health/627474. stm. Reed, Jay. “Man and Machine Become One. ” Business Week 6 September, 1999:1-4. Wilkinson, Michelle. “The negative effects of technology on kids – by Michelle Wilkinson – Helium. ” Helium – Where Knowledge Rules. Helium, Inc. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. http://www. helium. com/items/1626088-the-negative-effects-of-technology-on-kids