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Let's imagine ourselves without the phone, computer, TV and everything they give us. Communication is reduced to real meetings; phone calls are wired, and letters are sent by real mail. We read paper books; we watch films in the cinema where half of the city is gathered for a premiere. Remote work, online training, ordering food, buying clothes on the web without getting up from the couch – all this is not even in sight.
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People go to work, shop at actual stores and study at universities. Those who lived in the 80s understand what it is to wake up to the radio or the sound of an alarm clock, and not to your favorite melody. There is nothing “smart” in the house that would help spice up the morning and make it more comfortable: no coffee machines giving you a friendly greeting, no online newspaper with the latest news, no smart watch that would tell you how much you slept and whether your body is rested.
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DOWNSIDES OF NO-TECHNOLOGY LIFE
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Modern cars have computers inside, which means they would not exist either. People would get around at a much slower pace, ride horses or bicycles and rarely travel. Cities would be smaller. There would be no modern automation and software, which means that most of the work would be manual.
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And last, but certainly not least, we would live much shorter lives (around 45 years on average) as most of the modern healthcare is based on early diagnostics and preventive care enabled by computer technology.
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ADVANTAGES OF NO-TECHNOLOGY LIFE
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Fewer people, more space and cleaner air. People would have fewer problems with the environment and climate, the weather would be more stable – cold snowy winters and hot summers. No global warming. And lots of lively human communication, as people would simply have to know their colleagues and neighbors in person.
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DOES TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES AUTOMATICALLY?
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In 1969, we were able to send people to the Moon. Then we had the space shuttle that could only take people to low Earth orbit. Then the space shuttle retired, and the United States could take no one to the orbit. So, the trend is that space technology is decreasing down to nothing.
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It is a mistake to think that technology just automatically improves. It does not. It only improves if a lot of people work very hard to make it better. By itself it can degrade. If you look at great civilizations like ancient Egypt that has built the great pyramids and Romans who built their incredible aqueducts. They forgot how to do that.
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IN A NUTSHELL
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Technology brings everyday comfort, increases life longevity and broadens the limits of our civilization. At the same time, technology causes environmental problems and dehumanizes our society. Nevertheless, at this point we can’t stop its pace without the catastrophic consequence of such a disruption. So, we go along with it.
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But it is wrong to think that technology develops automatically. It is up to us, humans, to push it in the right direction. And it is our moral duty to decide which technology should live and which should be abandoned forever.
