What is technology?

What is technology?

This time, I would like to talk about rapidly changing technologies. State-of-the-art technology is evolving day by day, and the effect is that many services will change if one technology is created. First of all, what kind of technology is it? I will refer to Wikipedia.

The expression and term "technology"
The expression "technology" was introduced in the early 17th century, and its etymology is the Greek word technología (τεχνολογία), and the word τέχνη téchnē techne (= "work" "technique") and -λογία-logia (= It is a combination of suffixes meaning "-theory" and "-gaku").

history

Mankind's technology began by turning what is in nature into a simple tool. In prehistoric times, humankind would have encountered fires in naturally ignited field fires and forest fires, but have found a way to handle them. Using the empirical knowledge that the surroundings of fire are bright even at night, it has become possible to see the surroundings even on a pitch-black night when the moon is not rising, using the fire as a light (lighting). Also, taking advantage of the fact that the fire is hot, some people will heat the ingredients obtained by collecting them and eat them deliciously. (As a result, human beings at that time would not have understood it, and modern people know it, because it can be sterilized by heating), it would have become safe to nourish (food safety). Securing). If a stone rich in glass and a stone happen to break, a sharp cross section is formed, and if you experience that the cross section happens to be cut, that becomes knowledge (experience knowledge), and this time you use that experience knowledge. Then, by intentionally hitting stones against each other and breaking them, stone tools would be made and used as knives. The stone tool knife will also be used to deliberately cut the meat of captured or killed animals. Also, some people come up with the idea of ​​tying the stone tool knife to the tip of a tree branch (using a plant vine, etc.), and that person can use it to hurt or kill the animal from a distance. If it was used as a tool (= a tool that human beings would later call a "spear"), those who saw it would imitate it and spread it. The spear may have been abused not only to hunt animals, but also to hurt others. Stone tools can also be used to cleanly separate the skin of the killed animal from the flesh (“peeling”), and eventually the animal skin will be cleanly peeled off (and the fat on the back side will be scraped off with the stone tool and the river Some people may have noticed that it can be used as a tool (= something later called "clothes") to keep the body warm (if washed well with a cloth). In addition, convenient materials that would later be called "fur" or "leather" became available. In the area of ​​plants, I realized that by combining the stems of plants that grow in nature vertically and horizontally, I could first create something like a simple prototype of a "basket" (the beginning of "weaving"), and then the plants. If you intentionally break the stems into small pieces vertically, or if the plant rots and the fiber (plant fiber) remains, it becomes a kind of simple string or thread, and if you combine them vertically and horizontally , (Compared to the basket-shaped ones that combine the stems vertically and horizontally), notice that they can make supple ones (those that human beings will later call "woven fabrics" or "cloths"). The length of each plant fiber obtained from nature was limited, and the length of the earliest cloth may have been limited, but several plant fibers were "twisted" together. By repeating the process of "twisting while shifting the position a little", you realize that you can make as long a string or thread as you like, or you can adjust the thickness of the resulting string or thread by adjusting the amount of fibers to be twisted. I also noticed (the act of "spinning", "spinning". The beginning of spinning), and now that long strings and threads can be obtained, textiles (cloth) of a certain length or longer can also be obtained. It has become easier to make, and the thickness of strings and threads can be freely adjusted, so the toughness, thickness, and texture ("stiffness" and "suppleness") of the cloth made from it can also be improved. It has become possible to adjust it freely, making the cloth even more convenient. → #History

Utility and Harm of Technology

Technology affects humans and human society in many ways. It has both good and bad effects. The positive impacts, for example, are that technology contributes to economic development on the one hand, but creates economic disparity and inequality on the other. While some people have more free time due to technology, on the contrary, some people are dominated like slaves and have time. Technology, on the one hand, may provide a way to use natural resources for the benefit of humans, but on the other hand, it consumes (wasts) limited natural resources, causing some damage to the earth and its environment (). → Environmental problems) and also cause pollution. Technologies such as printing presses, telephones, and the Internet have a positive effect on the one hand because they help people communicate with each other, but they are also abused to disperse vulgar things and attack people with language. It produces results and is also used for crimes such as fraud, and it also produces results that afflict people. Even at the stage of relatively simple tools such as stones, stone tool knives, thick branches of trees, clubs, etc., it may already be used to make people happy, or conversely to hurt and torment people. I was broken. In the hunter-gatherer society, there was no high division of labor in the production of tools, so instead of being involved in any production, each person was a simple manual worker, and even if they were made, only small spears and bows were made. Archaeological and anthropological studies have revealed that it was used [5], and spears and bows and arrows are all small, and are used only to obtain small animals, even if they are aimed at humans. Even if it was used and abused, the damage was small and the degree was known. However, with the start of agriculture (which may also be mentioned as one of the technologies), the amount of food available to humankind has increased, and there has been a blatant difference in the amount of food (grain) stocked by small groups, resulting in a social disparity. In the group that was born and successfully stocked food, some people did not have to spend time just to procure food, that is, the division of labor began to progress in human society, and in society (some people were born full-time in agriculture). On the other hand, anthropology revealed that some people (a kind of "expert") who make only spears and bows have appeared, and specialists such as spears and bows in the agricultural society have increased their size and power. ing. The hunter-gatherer society received almost the blessings of nature as it was, and lived by walking around various lands.There was no excessive attachment to a specific land, but the agricultural society that appeared after that (running agriculture) Since the group) develops the land on its own (because it makes a kind of "upfront investment" in a specific land with labor and time), it is not possible to leave the land (agricultural land developed by itself). On the other hand, if there are people who try to protect the farmland, on the other hand, "If someone else cultivates the farmland and the farmland where the plants are already growing is forcibly taken away, it will be your own benefit. The spear and bow were used as tools for people's fighting (over farmland), war tools, and killing tools, and as a result of becoming an agricultural society, spears and bows were born. Anthropology reveals that bows are being used more often as "tools for war" rather than as "tools for (animal) hunting." After that, gunpowder, guns, etc. appeared, and technology has a history of increasing its destructive power to nuclear weapons and producing tools for mass murder, resulting in countless perpetrators and countless tragic damages. Has given birth to a person.

Technology also affects social values, and new technology raises new ethical issues. There is no end to the debate as to whether technology produces results that improve humanity, or conversely, results that reduce humanity and afflicts humans.

In addition, the concept of efficiency (efficiency) was originally applied to machines, but it has also come to mean efficiency efficiency (productivity) of human beings.

Various discussions are being held on the harmful effects and dangers of technology. In ancient times, movements such as neo-Luddite and anakiism philosophically criticized the universality of technology in modern society, which destroyed the environment and alienated people (= dominate human beings and lose their essence). ), And since then, it has been often criticized by various people, and even now, anti-nuclear movements are being carried out all over the world from a realistic point of view. On the other hand, supporters such as transhumanism argue that continuous progress in technology is beneficial to society and humanity. "Advancement in science and technology is like an ax in the hands of a morbid criminal," Einstein said. [6]

By the way, until recently it was believed that technology development could only be done by humans, but other primates and some dolphins made simple tools and passed on that knowledge to the next generation. Recent research has revealed.