Technology and human relations

By Tunde Adebayo

TECHNOLOGY over the years has been a life saver. It has also grown to impressive levels since the Stone Age such that it makes people of the current age look back with a strong sense of approval. From the tales of the People of Carthage, or those of Egypt, China, the Romans, Greeks, the Arabians, the feats achieved by these ancestors were so remarkable that they would seem exaggerated in comparison to the expectations of posterity.

Thus, technology progressed rapidly as time advanced. And it solved almost all human problems. Technology might be defined as the practice of industrial use of scientific discoveries. However, technology is simply a way of life. That is, the way the mind works when it’s in need of something, an incentive; a drive to make life easier.

The past one thousand years has seen the greatest boost of technological development. Humans have grown in transportation, so have we in communication. The 20th century even ushered in aircrafts, submarines, computers, nuclear energy, telephones, varieties of automobiles and the internet.

All of these birthed the new age. This is why the 1900s was referred to as the age of technological explosion.

This is not to cut short the achievements of the earlier centuries, which boasted of geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci, who designed the submarine, helicopter, and the steam engine; or Galileo Galilei who invented the telescope, discovered planets, and was even referred to as the father of physics, geography and mathematics. Then we have Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday.

This technological age (1500s-1700s) broadened the exposure range of the people. And so did their wants. Then natural human greedy nature, ‘I want it all’ set in, then the European journey began. They sailed into the Americas, Asia and Africa.  They began construction of faster, stronger  and more efficient ships for their voyages. An unsuspecting spectator would think that would only increase human relationship, positively. If only it were so.

Retrogression in the simplest understanding means the return to an older or archaic state. In other words, the meltdown in norms of what is socio-culturally acceptable. The world in this age has shed away all sense of morality, all in the name of civilisation.

Millennium technology could be any of the scientific innovations achieved over the past one thousand years. It could be the advanced weaponry we now boast of, or healthcare. It could be high speed transportation, i.e. airplanes, spaceships.

Then there is ICT; the internet is responsible for effective information inter-communication and it is the actual backbone. Internet is like the soul of technology nowadays. And anyone breathing would likely agree that the grandest technological discovery has to be the internet.

From the commercial aspect, the internet business is the most lucrative industry today. According to Forbes, six out of the ten wealthiest people make their money from ICT. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Jack Ma (Alibaba Group) come to mind.

This is not hard to fathom because the internet made it possible for quicker dispersion and retrieval of data and information. Before the arrival of the internet, sending and receiving international letters could take a  very long time,ranging from few weeks to months. But with social media, this can easily be achieved in mere seconds despite the great distance in between. This in effect has turned the world into a global village.

In linguistics, languages can be easily translated using translation applications of your mobile devices. This aids communication  among people of different race, tribes or country.

And just when it could be perceived that only good would emerge from such opportunities,  hate blossomed.

Four hundred years of slavery, colonisation and world wars made sure of that. And as species full of hate, technology was meant to repair that. However, technology acted as an amplifier to these evil traits one might have.

With internet, the people found a cunning way to swindle unsuspecting victims.  Internet fraud is now a norm in West Africa that those guilty have found a way to justify it. This  vile practice alone has robbed countless innocent people  of  opportunities in foreign lands.

Nonetheless we are impressionable beings, and we act on things we see.

• Adebayo is a HND 2 Mechanical Engineering student of The Polytechnic, Ibadan.