About Modern
Technology
Most people in the developed world live in an environment that is totally dominated by and interwoven with modern technology. We live in centrally heated houses that incorporate many high-tech materials, eat scientifically engineered food, travel at high speeds in motorized vehicles, and communicate to a greater and greater extent by electronic means. Technology is having a profound effect on the natural environment, on interpersonal dynamics, and on our minds. As it becomes ever more dominant, it becomes increasingly important to assess technology's effects critically, and to understand both its benefits and its inherent dangers.
Beginnings
Although human beings have always used technology of one sort or another, "modern technology," in the sense that the term is generally used, began with the Industrial Revolution in the mid-eighteenth century. This era saw a massive cultural shift away from hand- , community- and craft-based methods of production and toward centralized, depersonalized and automated means of manufacture. The second major shift toward the technological world that we live in today occurred with the advent of the transistor and computer technology in the mid-20th century.
Culture and Technology
The effect of technology on culture is so widespread that most people are not consciously aware of it. Because it is so present in every aspect of our lives, we tend to live inside of a technological matrix and give little thought to how it might be shaping our society and ourselves. Modern technology is the basis of rapid and easy transportation, global communication, preserved food and most medical intervention, all of which have a profound effect on our lives. These effects include multiculturalism, increased population, urbanization and a general shift away from family and cultural repetition toward a fast-paced, anonymous society.
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