The History of Science and Technology: Its Vital Importance

Should we stop doing science and technology? This is history of science and technology essay in which will be an attempt to answer this question. 

Science and Technology Studies is a flourishing interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their cultural, historical, and social contexts. There is the part of Science and Technology Studies (STS) that addresses and often challenges traditional perspectives in philosophy, sociology, and history of science and technology; it has developed increasingly sophisticated understandings of scientific and technical knowledge, and of the processes and resources that contribute to that knowledge. There is also the part of STS that focuses on reform or activism, critically addressing policy, governance, and funding issues, as well as individual pieces of publicly relevant science and technology; it tries to reform science and technology in the name of equality, welfare, and environment.

Science can cure diseases, improve crop yields, reshape the planet and carry us into the cosmos, but is any of that worth the risks? The march of science has improved the lives of some, but not all. And it has inadvertently precipitated a problematic population explosion and an unfolding environmental catastrophe. Science only happens to lend itself toward a certain social philosophical vision, and for that reason, in such irrational social contexts, there would seem an inevitable clash of values.

For me, science advocates and appeals to a certain way of thinking, and thus helps foster a more rational society; but this is not a priori aim. As Carl Sagan put it in The Demon-Haunted World: There is much that science doesn’t understand, many mysteries still to be resolved. In a Universe tens of billions of light-years across and some ten or fifteen billion years old, this may be the case forever. Science is far from a perfect instrument of knowledge. It’s just the best we have. In this respect, as in many others, it’s like democracy. Science by itself cannot advocate courses of human action, but it can certainly illuminate the possible consequences of alternative courses of action.

In three states Nevada, Florida, and California - it is now legal for Google to operate its driverless cars. Google's goal is to create a fully automated vehicle that is safer and more effective than a human-operated vehicle, and the company plans to marry this idea with the concept of the Zipcar. The ethics of automation and equality of access for people of different income levels are just a taste of the difficult ethical, legal and policy questions that will need to be addressed. Machines (both for peaceful purposes and for warfighting) are increasingly evolving from human-controlled to automated, to autonomous, with the ability to act on their own without human input. As these systems operate without human control and are designed to function and make decisions on their own, the ethical, legal, social and policy implications have grown exponentially. Mobile wireless connectivity is having a profound effect on society in both developed and developing countries.

These technologies are completely transforming how we communicate, conduct business, learn, form relationships, navigate and entertain ourselves. At the same time, government agencies increasingly rely on the radio spectrum for their critical missions. We now need to have a policy conversation about how to make the most effective use of the precious radio spectrum, and to close the digital access divide for underserved (rural, low-income, developing areas) populations.

As what I understand about how Science and Technology affects our lives, that there are advantages and disadvantages. The Advantages are, it makes our lives simple by using equipment that can easily finish and do well the work or job. We can save more time and energy so that we can perform and do our other job. We can now easily communicate our loved ones and relatives by using cellphone and internet, it can connect us even they are in the other part of the world and then with digital camera, we can see them just like they are in front of us. Technology now can give us more information about what is happening around the world that helps us to get aware and prepare for disaster and calamity that might happen in our country or our place. Science and Technology can cure our diseases, provide us shelter and food for crowd people. Most of the people think that there are more advantages of science and technology as compare to the disadvantages.

The major advantage of science and technology is that it has made our lives easier like the invention of technology has decreased the manual work. The use of technology in agriculture has increased our productivity. Doing work at workplaces is easier because of the invention of computers and notebooks. Development of technology in kitchens, beauty parlors, workplace, research labs and in all fields of life has become the necessity. Now we can study and understand our history, culture and society and by the help of Science and Technology we can share our stories of what's happening in our lives, what we see and what we discover to by this way we can also help the children of the next generation.

The evolution of technology is beneficial to humans for several reasons. At the medical level, technology can help treat more sick people and consequently save many lives and combat very harmful viruses and bacteria. The invention of the computer was a very important point. Communication is thus enhanced, and companies can communicate more easily with foreign countries. Research is also simplified. For companies, progress in implementing strategic technology trends is helping them save time and therefore, money.

Exchanges are faster especially with the internet. Sales and purchases are now facilitated and possible worldwide. This allows businesses to buy raw materials with discounts or at reduced prices. Similarly, global tourism has grown. When observed more closely, new things are discovered every day. Let's take for instance when radio waves were discovered, radio broadcasts followed suit almost immediately. The same applies to television and electricity. If no one had discovered that electricity could begenerated, then the entertainment industry wouldn't be at its current stage of development.

On the other hand, the evolution of modern technology has disadvantages, for example, dependence on new technology. Man no longer needs to think. Even if the calculator is a good invention, man no longer makes mental calculation and no longer works his memory. The decline of human capital implies an increase in unemployment. In some areas, devices can replace the human mind. The use of technology certainly needs rule and new laws. For example, internet use is individual freedom. However, the invention of the atomic bomb cannot be individual freedom. Regulations are difficult to implement when these technologies are introduced – such as regulation surrounding the impending arrival of autonomous vehicles. Finally, as most technological discoveries aim to reduce human effort, it would imply that more work is done by machines. This equates to less work for people: the human is becoming ever so obsolete by the day, as processes become automated and jobs are made redundant.

You might ask yourself this question 'Should we stop doing science and technology?', but after looking at the advantages and disadvantages of science and technology you can see that we will forever need science and technology so that we can make things easier. Imagine today not having a cellphone or computer and you have to send someone an important message that is the reason that we should not stop doing science and technology.

In conclusion, during the agricultural revolution, the way humans lived changed forever. From being hunter-gatherers who roamed the land, we started to settle down in one place. Why? Because we gained the scientific know-how necessary to grow crops. Suddenly, we didn't need to be on the move all the time. We could create more than enough food to feed our families where we were. Soon our shelters stopped being rudimentary and easy to take apart and became permanent structures and buildings. Thus, as farming technology improved, building technology improved as well; and as we became able to create an excess of food, fewer people had to spend time producing food, and we gained the extra time needed to expand our knowledge even more quickly.

Bibliography

• Hackett, Edward J., Amsterdamska, Olga, Lynch, Michael and Wajcman, Judy, eds. (2008) The handbook of science and technology studies. The MIT Press, Cambridge, USA.
• Philosophy and General Reading Ethics: “Should We Stop Doing Science?”July 8, 2017Robert C. SmithEpistemology, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science.
• Dame's John J. (December 17, 2012). Emerging ethical dilemmas in science and technology 
• Michael Brooks. (July 5, 2017). The ethics issue: Should we stop doing science?