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Between Fear and Hope
Technological change is extremely
rapid, raising both hopes and fears for our environment.
This section outlines the nature and history of technology,
and looks at some of its implications for the environment.
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| Tools,
like language and politics, a defining human characteristic.
/ Sergio Dorantes. |
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1 What is technology?
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The term 'technology' refers to all of the various tools
we use in order to modify our environment and ourselves.
'Tools' should be understood in the broadest sense to
include not only physical objects but also techniques
and ways of doing things, such as ways of organizing
a factory or plowing a field. It has been suggested
that tool-use, along with language and politics, is
one of the defining characteristics of the human species.
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2 What is the relationship between science and technology?
- This relationship has changed greatly
over time. Originally science, the pursuit of knowledge, was
the domain of aristocrats, while tool making was the job of
craftsmen. It was not until the Middle Ages that science and
technology began to draw closer together. Following the scientific
revolution that began in the sixteenth century, science increasingly
relied on tools such as the telescope and the microscope; the
work of scientists came to depend more and more upon the work
of craftspeople. By the nineteenth century, tool making in turn
began to be influenced by scientific principles and theories.
Today, science and technology are intertwined to the point that
it is difficult to separate the two.
3 Does technological
change pose a threat to human society and the environment?
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Over the long term, technological change has led to incalculable
benefits for humans. On average, we live longer and healthier
lives today than did our prehistoric or medieval ancestors.
At the same time, technological improvements have allowed us
to kill ourselves in unprecedented numbers in this century through
war and other forms of political violence.
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What technological changes have had the greatest impact on modern
society and its natural environment?
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Arguably those changes associated with the harnessing of energy.
This would include the invention of the steam engine, the electro-magnetic
generator, and the internal combustion engine. These and other
inventions made possible the industrialization and urbanization
of England and later Europe and North America and Australia.
They also made possible rapid transportation of people and materials
over long distances, allowing the development of a global economy
and of modern warfare. The environmental consequences have included
increased waste, the release of polluting materials into the
biosphere, and the depletion of renewable resources such as
fish, forests, and soil.
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Source:
Primer on Environmental Citizenship.
Copyright © 2000 Tierramérica.
Todos los Derechos Reservados
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