Introduction
In contemporary world, where almost everything is handy and convenient due to technological advancement, one may appear ignorant if he or she happens to taunt technology. Technological growth has led to the development of products that mankind would have never thought.
Nonetheless, in spite of the progress that humanity has gained as a result of technology, there are some costs accompanying this technological growth (Abramovitz, 2009). On one side, it has made life easy by improving its quality, and on the other it has made the cost of living to skyrocket. This paper will look at some of the costs associated with technological growth.
Costs of technological advances
One way in which technological advancement has been a burden to the society and family in particular is through rendering many people jobless. Technological growth has made it possible to people to develop robots, which assume human characters. Such robots can perform most of the tasks that once required human being.
Eventually, many employees are being replaced with robots (Abramovitz, 2009). For instance, most of the packing companies are using robots as a way to boost their productivity. The move has helped the companies to increase their production rate and competence. However, it has come with a cost as many people have ended up losing their jobs.
Technological growth has contributed to the rise in the cost of living. Today, almost every household owns a cell phone. Hence, the family is forced to spend extra money to load the mobile phone with credit (Al-Bataineh & Brooks, 2003). The current crave for digital migration has come as a result of technological advancement. In the past, people could access free television channels.
Presently, owning a television is becoming a luxury due to increasing in the cost of maintaining it. It is true that technological growth has improved the quality of televisions. However, it has led to a significant increase in the cost of watching television. In the past, people would only install an antenna and receive television signals from as far as Philadelphia to Baltimore.
Today, one has to purchase a high-definition television set, which is very expensive (Al-Bataineh & Brooks, 2003). As if this is not enough, one has to subscribe to satellite or payment cable to receive transmissions. All these have led to increasing in the cost of owning a television set, an issue that was not witnessed prior to technological advancement.
Technological growth has enhanced efficiency in the transport industry. It has led to the development of sophisticated vehicles, trains, ships as well as planes. Such vehicles and trains have shortened the period of commuting from one place to another due to enhanced speed.
However, the rate of accidents connected to these modes of transport has increased tremendously (Al-Bataineh & Brooks, 2003). Every day we hear about cases of road accidents, not to mention the cases of plane crash, which are frequent nowadays (Al-Bataineh & Brooks, 2003).
Hostility among nations is on the rise nowadays, and this has something to do with technological advancement. Majority of the developed countries are working around the clock to enhance their military power. Modern technology has led to endless wars among the nations (Bozeman, 2000). Take for instance, the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The two countries are ever in conflict because Israel believes that Iran is manufacturing nuclear weapons, a move that Israel feels would threaten its existence. It is in the public domain that some countries own and are developing weapons of mass destruction (Bozeman, 2000). Such countries, if not tamed might come to hold the entire world in hostage.
Technological advancement has led to increasing in dependency. For instance, many people cannot walk for even a short distance because they own a car. In return, there has been a rise in the number of people suffering from avoidable diseases like obesity. Bozeman asserts, “The more advanced a society becomes technologically, the more people begin to depend on computers and other forms of technology for everyday existence” (2000, p. 629). Whenever such machines break, people are rendered unproductive.
Moreover, over-reliance on technology inhibits creativity among the people. Prior to technological advancement, people would make their way out of a difficult situation. However, today people do not want to tire their brains on matters that require a click of a button. Eventually, mankind is becoming less and less self-reliant as a result of technological advancement (Meredith, 2006).
Moral and social fabrics are under a threat due to modern technology. In the past, children were not allowed to access some information or watch some programs since they would erode their moral values. Parents had the responsibility of regulating what their children watch or read. With the modern technology, it is difficult for parents to control what their children read or watch (Meredith, 2006).
Children have access to innumerable unconventional programs “thanks” to technological growth. Indeed, many children are engaging in sexual affairs at an early age without their parents knowing.
Since the technology has made it possible for people to communicate remotely, many children have been lured to join criminal gangs or radical groups by being promised a lot of money (Meredith, 2006). Parents have lost their children in mysterious ways because they went to see friends they meet on social media, or they were recruited into radical groups through social media.
Increased loneliness is another cost of technological advancement (Teece, 1992). As everyone strives to be at par with the ever changing technology, people do not have time to meet and interact. Instead, they lock themselves in their rooms. For others, they spend their free time playing online games and desert their peers (Teece, 1992).
Technology is gradually replacing the past ways of socializing. Individuals can meet many friends online. Consequently, they do not feel the urge to go out and socialize with others. With time, this degenerates to loneliness since it is hard for one to even spend a little time with their neighbors (Teece, 1992). It even becomes hard for such a person to seek assistance from the neighbors in case of an emergency.
Conclusion
Technological advancement has numerous benefits to humanity. However, it also has a number of demerits. Overreliance on technology hinders creativity among the society. In addition, technological growth has rendered many people jobless. Technology has a hand in the present level of insecurity and hostility among the nations, not to mention the increased number of death cases, which are related to technology.
Reference List
Abramovitz, M. (2009). Catching up, forging ahead, and falling behind. The Journal of Economic History, 46(2), 385-406.
Al-Bataineh, A., & Brooks, L. (2003). Challenges, advantages, and disadvantages of instructional technology in the community college classroom. Journal of Research and Practice, 27(6), 473-484.
Bozeman, B. (2000). Technology transfer and public policy: a review of research and theory. Research Policy, 29(5), 627–655.
Meredith, J. (2006). The strategic advantages of new manufacturing technologies for small firms. Strategic Management Journal, 8(3), 249–258.
Teece, D. (1992). Competition, cooperation, and innovation: Organizational arrangements for regimes of rapid technological progress. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 18(1), 1–25.