Does Technology Cause Traditional Skills to Disappear?

 Does Technology Cause Traditional Skills to Disappear? 

Introduction

• Traditional skills provide a means of livelihood, cultural identity, and sense of pride to many because of their uniqueness, relevance to that particular culture, and their beauty; however, they are increasingly becoming irrelevant due to development in technology and changed fast-paced lifestyle according to Western standards.
• Technology refers to the practical application of scientific knowledge for convenience and efficiency in human endeavours. For instance, the use of the wheel for the purposes of travel and in machines.
• Traditional skills, on the other hand, are conventional ways of completing tasks that are transferred culturally using old or no technology. For instance, Kalamkari is a traditional way of hand-painting or block-printing cotton clothes in Southern India.
• Main argument of the essay: Though technology has rendered many traditional skills redundant, it has not caused all of them to disappear altogether. In some instances we have also used technology to preserve traditional skills. It is the attitude of people towards traditional skills that has changed.

Body

• Different regions in India have diverse traditional skills such as weaving, handicrafts, regional cuisines, traditional games and sports, Ayurvedic practices, specific farming/agriculture practices, and techniques in building houses.
• These traditional skills are facing a decline due to the following reasons:
• Traditional methods are time-consuming compared to new technology. For instance, weaving cloth by hand or on traditional machines takes so much more time than modern mills. Given a high demand for goods due to increased population worldwide, it is easier to use modern technology rather than traditional one.
• Traditional skills require a lot of manpower and the products are expensive compared to machine-made mass produced goods. Hand-crafted jewellery and musical instruments require great skills and human effort; if the workers are to be paid fairly, these products ought to be priced high.
• The attitude of people, especially youngsters, towards traditional way of life and traditional skills, in turn, is changing. People prefer fast food to traditional Indian cuisine, which requires skill and preparation time, which the working men and women of today do not have.
• Using technology to produce goods assures consistency and quality compared to goods produced by hand that may have imperfections due to human error.

However, we cannot attribute reduced use of traditional skills to technology altogether.

• Relevant questions to ask are whether technology is causing traditional skills to disappear or is the attitude of people changing towards traditional technology due to modernization? Do people consider it more socially acceptable to play video games and watch TV instead of using traditional ways of entertainment such as street plays, traditional games, and folk dance?
• People have renewed interest in traditional skills, which is apparent by the popularity of traditionally grown organic food even in Western countries and preference for handloom clothes. For instance, Indian textile ministry’s recent campaign using social media in support of handloom gained popular support.
• There are new ways to protect traditional skills, such as the geographical indication (GI) tag given to geographically specific products. In India, products such as Chanderi fabric, Kullu shawl, Mysore sandal soap, Tanjavur paintings, etc. have received popularity and protection due to the GI tag. This shows that with some efforts, traditional skills can be protected despite technology.
• Technology can be used to protect, preserve, and propagate traditional skills as well. The Internet is being used by many organizations to sell and popularize products by traditional weavers and artisans across the world.

Conclusion

• Technological advances have replaced traditionally produced products and services due to low cost, fast production, and quality assurance of goods produced using technology.
• However, technology by itself does not cause traditional skills to disappear, as it also depends on people’s attitude towards traditional products and lifestyle. We also see traditional crafts being protected despite the advance of technology.
• If we are to protect traditional skills and livelihoods of people, we need to adopt an aggressive campaign to increase their popularity, raise awareness about them, and also use technology to protect them. We can certainly save traditional skills from disappearing by changing people’s attitude towards them.

Notes

• Keywords: technology, traditional skills
• It is important to have a clear understanding of what you mean by traditional skills and elaborate the same in the essay for your reader.
• The quality of this essay depends a lot on giving relevant and creative examples to prove your point, as many people will be giving similar arguments.
• The UPSC tends to ask technology-related questions frequently, so it is advised to prepare around this topic from multiple angles.