Importance of technology

Technology refers to the collection of tools that make it easier to use, create, manage, and exchange information. At the beginning of time, human beings used it for the process of discovery of the world and evolution. Technology is the knowledge and use of tools, techniques and systems in order to serve a larger purpose such as solving problems or making life easier and better. Its importance for human beings is enormous because it has helped them adapt to the environment.

The development of high technology has helped to conquer the barriers of communication and reduce the gap between people around the world. Far away places have become closer each time and consequently the pace of life has increased. Things that used to take hours to complete can now be done in a matter of seconds. The world is smaller and life is much faster.

An integral part of our lives

Technological advances have become an essential part of our lives. To understand why, it is enough to look around us and see that at all times and in every context we are surrounded by it; whether we are working or resting, it is always there to make our lives easier.

Due to its application, our standard of living has improved, since the needs are more easily satisfied. In general, all industries benefit from it, be it medicine, tourism, education, entertainment, among many others. In addition, companies have grown and have become more efficient, helping to create new employment opportunities. The application of technology has boosted the investigation in fields ranging from genetics to outer space.

Take mobile devices as an example: the faster the world moves, the more technological advances are offered. Laptops are getting thinner and smaller, getting more compact every year, and offering more capabilities and superior performance. They must be able to process a large amount of information in a faster and more concise way. The same goes for phones, the need to be able to communicate anytime, anywhere. place has been taken as the basis for creating the cell phone, which is being made smaller and smaller and has more characteristics, games, entertainment and Applications, to the point of being almost like a pocket computer. As if that were not enough, its market price drops rapidly as new products are released and it becomes more accessible.

The importance of technology is almost always linked to its practical uses.

In fact, a very expensive or very complicated technology is not usually successful, because its implementation is very complicated. That is why sometimes technologies that seem rudimentary triumph over others that are much more 'modern'. Be that as it may, technology is usually in continuous advance, being in general the practical development of new ideas conceived by the scientific disciplines, and therefore, it is closely linked to the concept of innovation.

In the life of modern society, technology is an indispensable thing. In fact, most scientific efforts are focused on creating new technologies that meet the needs of society and manage to raise the level of well-being. That on paper, because technology is not always used for its intended purpose or designed to improve life (there are important exceptions, such as war technologies), but a technology always covers a need. Without need, the technology is not accurate, and therefore, it will not be used.

Linked to the great needs of humanity, technologies of great value have always appeared. Due to the need for human communication, the telephone, television, radio, internet arose... Along with health needs, advances have arisen in surgery, general medicine, clinical analysis... Along with economic needs, new industrial technologies, process technologies, extraction.. And so we could continue ad infinitum, because there is no area in which technology is not present: be it economic, industrial, social, political, scientific, legislative, educational... etc, insofar as it allows an improvement of the final result or a simplification of the processes intermediates. Closely associated with this is the concept of BAT (Best Available Technology), or best available technology, in Spanish. Many of the modern concepts of ecology and sustainability are based on this term, through the continuous improvement of the technologies used in the industry to avoid contamination.

This previous term has changed in recent years the old concept of technology as an increaser of the final performance. Before, the new techniques directly sought the greatest possible benefit, especially since they were developed in 99% of cases by and for companies that sought economic performance. The big problems after the industrial Revolution, including not only the social ones, but also the environmental ones, are a clear example of how wrong this approach is. Nowadays, attempts are made not only to increase production, but also that new technologies take care of other aspects, such as the social, the well-being of the workers themselves or the environmental benefit.

Consequences of misuse

Modern technology has become an important facet of our lives and without it the world would be radically different. Despite this, social inequalities mean that there are still many people who do not have access to it.

On the other hand, the rapid development of new devices encourages consumerism, as well as the use excessive brings with it repercussions on health, such as visual stress, insomnia, deafness or obesity, among others. Finally, spending so much time browsing our cell phones and tablets disconnects us from what is happening around us and affects our relationship with others.

The use of technology is immeasurable and will continue to change, based on the demands of the people and the market. How we use it determines whether it is good or bad, useful or harmful. Technology itself is neutral, but we are the ones who make it good or bad, based on how we use it.

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