Technology can be used to improve our lives, but it can also have negative effects. It can lead to increased productivity, but it can also result in stress, lack of sleep and even depression. The benefits of technology outweigh the downsides, but we should be careful with how we use it.
Whether in business or education, technology has become an integral part of everyday life. Companies use it to create products and services, while schools and universities integrate technology in order to stay relevant. It allows students to learn in a different way, and it helps them develop critical 21st century skills.
In general, technology is the application of scientific, mathematical, linguistic and historical knowledge to practical problems, using tools, systems and methods. This is not the same as science, which is a reasoned investigation of phenomena with the goal of discovering enduring principles. Science focuses on necessity and universality, while technology considers contingencies and context.
Anyone who makes technology is constantly weighing low-resistance paths to a given end. It’s not a straightforward exercise, because the technologist must determine what that end should be. Technology is about bringing the world closer to how we wish it to be, and the decision-making process must involve deliberation and an element of choice. The choices we make about what to implement as technology can have a profound impact on the future of humanity. It can promote health and wellness, increase economic growth and decrease pollution; or it can disrupt existing social hierarchies, cause disconnection and harm individuals and communities.