speech on technology and future
Answers
Technology is an essential part of our lives today and few can imagine living without. We achieved a lot with the help of technology, for example we have the possibility to travel, keep in touch with friends on the other side of the earth and cure many illnesses. It means more freedom and choices for people but at the same time we have to consider the social imbalance, weapons of mass destruction and natural resource depletion. Jane Godall asks for a reason: “We are the most intelligent species walking on earth, how it comes we destroy on what we depend?” What has achieved so far is irrevocable, but we can still determine where it goes in the future.
One of the most important things everybody has to deal with is to overcome the short-termism, which prevails in governments, companies and individuals. Additionally we know, that decisions one individual takes are not necessarily good for the society as a whole. This doesn’t make it easier.
I think it is important to bear in mind the mutual goal: to keep the planet with mankind and all its beautiful animals and plants alive. This implies to make technology as positive as possible for humanity and the environment in the long run. The technology we create now creates the future and it should be for the people and make things easier and not more complicated. So what kind of society will we be?
Technology shapes the future and it can help to make it compatible with nature. It can help us to develop clean energy, transport possibilities with less emissions and low-energy houses to save resources. Technology is not only about technology itself or more efficiency and discovering new methods and processes; we have to add the component of art which is about to make wise choices for the future of technology. We should not develop technology because of itself, but to develop it, because it adds value to society and simplifies human life. For this, it needs to be discussed with experts from many fields and we have to relate the technology to the organization and the culture in which it should operate. And remember: There are no side effects – they are part of the technology.
Technology in recent years has advanced very quickly. I remember just a few years ago using an Apple Computer where you had to type in commands for the computer to do anything. It also had very flimsy disks to run program, which could easily be damaged. Now we have computers that will almost run themselves. You no longer have to type in commands; you can either click on icons with your mouse or choose options from a menu.
I believe technology is the fastest growing and advancing thing in our economy today. Almost everything is based on computers or some other form of technology to run it. Computers are constantly being updated…a computer system can be out of date in a matter of months. Its not only computer though. Things like weapons technology and mobile communications i.e. cell phones, pagers, and hand-held computers (Palm Pilots).
I have found many different types of technological advances. One that I found is called the OICW. Which stands for Objective Individual Combat Weapon. It is a new weapon that the government hopes to implement by the year 2006, which isn’t too far off. This weapon will allow you to see and shoot around corners with out exposing yourself at all. It works by having a camera implemented into the scope of the gun. Then you have a little screen that comes down off of the helmet and fits right over your eye allowing you to see where the gun is pointed and what it is looking at.
Technology will continue to grow every day, every month and every year. Soon the technology we have now will be considered antiques and no longer be used anywhere. Some think that eventually they will hit a point where they can’t progress any further…but I think as long is there is technology we will continue to improve it.