“Technology crater more problem than it selves”

The 21st century owes its successes and achievements to the rapid technological advancements. Here, technology should not be confused with science. Where science deals with the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of things, technology deals with ‘getting things done’. A plenitude of technological innovations have been made that touch more or less every aspect of human life.

Now the question is – whether these changes are good or are they just antecedent of new problems? As has been said: “Every problem has a solution and every solution creates new problems”. For instance, social media has indeed increased connectivity among people. People are ‘residentially disjoint but functionally joint now’, but it has also given rise to an ‘underlying trend of self-alienation’. This makes us think: has technology made our life better or worse off?

Human life as always is mired in tradeoffs between alternatives. Albert Einstein believed in ‘technology for human development’. His research in atomic energy widened the horizon of research. MRI scans, X-rays are a great help in medical sciences, food irradiation increases shelf life of processed food. Yet, on the other hand, we faced nuclear disasters like Fukushima and Chernobyl. The waste disposal of nuclear plants is itself a humongous task. It shows that the threats of nuclear technology are more grave and long-term than its immediate benefits.

Another advancement that humanity has made is in defense technology. We feel safe with most modern supersonic missiles (Brahmas), inter-continental ballistic missiles, submarines plying on roads, water and air. But these weapons of mass destruction do not account for collateral damage to not just innocent humans but also wildlife, forests, etc. Harmful chemicals from them leach to the underground aquifers.

Our rapid inroads have now included space as well. There is a race between countries for ‘weaponization of space’. Undoubtedly, today our life is entirely dependent on equipment like Wi-Fi satellite, mobile which are run through satellite technology. Better navigation through GPS, creeps monitoring weather forecasting and disaster management has become more expedient. But humanity has not stopped here. We are aspiring for asteroid mining (e.g. Japan’s Bennu asteroid), making artificial moons (e.g. China’s mission). This may start space wars. It indicates that technology, besides solving problems, is creating new ones too.

Space debris is emerging as a new challenge; running at 25,000 miles per second can damage any satellite or great advances in Biotechnology. For instance, gene editing – CRISPR – Cas9, criminal identification through DNA profiling, rare diseases, genetic diseases can be solved. But the ethical conundrums associated with these problems can’t be ignored e.g. cloning, designer babies, privacy concerns (in case of DNA data storage). This poses the larger question of whether we are solving problems or creating new ones.

Benefits of Biotechnology have significantly helped farmers, especially in areas with a fine fold increase in food production. But this was accompanied by HYV seeds, pesticides, high water requirement. Now what we are facing is the challenge of nutrient pollution, loss of soil fertility, higher incidences of cancer, lower yields. This is pushing the agrarian society to demand for reservation in public jobs or it is succumbing to alcohol and drug abuse (i.e. case in Punjab).

Another marked feature of this century is unprecedented advances in communication and computer technology. The whole ‘Globe is one’ now. But this oneness is at the cost of a threat on cyber security. The incidences of cyberbullying, trolling, stalking, data theft (e.g. recent Agent Smith Botnet) have increased by 30%. It not only compromises national security but also the ‘inner peace’ and denies social well-being of technology at a time of globalization ‘women’ are undoubtedly more empowered; more jobs are created in IT, ITES, BPO areas. But another fact is that 53% of the jobs have become informal as well. Violence against women has increased. Patriarchy has entered social media as well. Explosive and irresponsible social media radicalizes youth. ISIS has adopted it as a tool to increase its result of rumors on social media (Dimapur case). Children are also affected; on one hand they have access to better learning sources which are less expensive but they are also affected by targeted groups engaged in online child sexual assault, Blue whale game, PUBG.

In the above section we saw the impact of technology on different sections of society, but it is also important how technology is impacting the health of society. Now we have access to generic drugs, which are more affordable, LASER-enabled cataract operations. Recently world’s first tele-robotic heart surgery was conducted in India. Defective mitochondria can be dealt with in babies now (e.g. 3-parent baby). But the recent trend of an increase in non-communicable diseases e.g. cancer, cardiovascular e.g. and multidrug resistance is posing a great threat.

Not only health but also the economic opportunities have seen a dramatic shift due to technology’s intervention. Jobs are created in sectors which are ‘skill-intensive’ not ‘labor-intensive’ as reported by the ‘World Economic Forum’. This poses a challenge in front of India, which has a huge unskilled labor pool. But on a brighter side, Big data analytics, Artificial intelligence, and machine learning are changing the face of the economic reality as well. Financial inclusion due to Fin-tech solutions e.g. PayTM, UPI, JAM trinity, DBT etc. ensures more transparency and accountability in governance. Lever leakages in financial and service value chain have amounted to a saving of 40,000 crore in [2017-10].

Another dimension of technological success is in Nanotechnology. It has helped in agriculture, prevents environment degradation (through bioremediation), and averts in surgeries. However, its increased use may increase Bio-accumulation and magnification of nano substances in food chains. This could have a disastrous impact for us. Recently the BNHS – NGO reported ‘dying vultures’ who consumed Diclofenac in their bodies. Such chemicals if entered in the food chain would affect the Biodiversity of the whole planet.

The impact of technology on Earth’s ecosystem is mostly seen in a negative light. However, with new advanced tools we are trying to develop sustainable solutions e.g. organic farming, micro-irrigation, rainwater harvesting, Neem-coated urea, satellite monitoring of safety of National parks and sanctuaries against poaching. Many species have been prevented from extinction with the help of shared DNA pool.

We are moving towards newer cleaner and greener sources of technology e.g. solar, wind, bio-ger, biofuel, ocean-thermal energy etc. Though here as well, a recent debate on pollution by photovoltaic discarded waste, noise pollution by wind turbines has caught up. Overall, it is a mixed effect of benefits and drawbacks.

There is no denying that technology does not solve anything entirely; we are evolving so is technology with us. Our needs, lifestyle is changing, so will technology. What is derivable and achievable is focus and technological solutions and innovation that guarantee sustainability. “Technology is a good servant but a bad master”. We should be mindful of this.