One of the most important questions in our current day and age is whether the technological revolution that has become a central part of our society is beneficial or harmful. Technology has become glaringly harmful to our society in many ways, but by categorizing it as "bad" or "malicious" is too simple and fails to look beyond the causes of technology becoming a harmful phenomenon.
First, let's think about where we would be without technology today. Not in a university, not in a factory, not even on a farm, but in a cave, banging rocks together in hopes of creating fire. Yet even in that time, humans needed the technology of spears and bows and arrows to survive.
It is clear that while today's technology is harmful to society in many ways, technology is not a new phenomenon. Technology goes hand-in-hand with human nature and is inherent to who we are. Our ability to create and adapt is what has propelled us to having a higher capacity of intelligence than anything else on this earth.
Technology is beneficial to society since it is essential to society. Without technology, society as we know it wouldn't exist. Technology is harmful only in that it is used in a harmful manner. Technology itself is not harmful.
Depending on how people use it, technology can be both beneficial and harmful to society. An area of focus that is not stressed enough in our society is education on technology and how we can utilize its beneficial applications and not accidentally fall into using it for harmful ones.
The amount of lives saved by technology in the medical field is one of the overwhelming benefits that makes the claim that technology is detrimental difficult to stand by. Technology is constantly changing the ways that we learn, allowing us more efficient methods to discover and apply information, and allowing for more personalized learning.
The Internet, possibly the most revolutionary technology to date, has brought the world together. While the negatives and positives of globalization can be debated, there is no question that globalization has made it harder to hate those who are different than us. It has connected cultures across the globe and created a more widespread empathy, resulting in a more peaceful world for countries that have universal access to technology.
Information is infinite today because of technology, and the possibilities that come with discoveries through this information are enticing.
At the end of the day, the world that technology has created is scary and unpredictable, but also amazing and efficient. The effects of technology might just cause the end of the human race. However, technology also has the potential to propel the human race into a utopian-like world. It is a product of our desires as humans and at the end of the day, technology itself is only beneficial or harmful based on how we use it.
