Roi Kobe M.

Mallare
STEM 201

Thesis Statement:
Development brought by technology can improve different aspects of life but it has its drawbacks
too.

Development of Technology: A change for the better or for the worse?

Technology, it innovates the world. You could even say that along with money, it makes
the world go around too. It makes everything better, more accessible and much easier, so much
that you can say that it is the synonym of the word “convenience”. It brings a lot to the table, but
I reckon development is one of the most influential aspect of it, whether it be human development
or world development. Why? Because development is the key to a better world, but is it all fair
and rosy?

First, let us tackle what is technology. Technology, it’s the backbone of globalization.
Everything that makes the world evolve is because of how humans utilize technology. To be clear
let us define technology, According to Mesthene (1970) “we define technology as the organization
of knowledge for the achievement of practical purposes.” Based on his meaning, technology is the
result of knowledge utilized for practical purposes. With that in mind we can now understand that
technology is not something new to the modern day, every invention used for practical purposes
like the prehistoric tools is considered technology. All that implies is technology is a big part why
the world evolves, why we have these tall skyscrapers, vehicles, advanced entertainment, and
many more today. Without development brought by technology we will still be illiterate, ignorant
and savages. So, what are the wonderful things brought by technology?

Technology, it’s the backbone of the globalization. Without it connection to other nations
will be hard if not impossible to achieve. Trades will not occur, culture will not be spread, or to
sum it up the world will be stagnant. Now let us focus on the present. Reaching other people from
the other side of the globe? No problem, internet is here to help. Knowledge and Information
needed? Access it all with a single click. Slow production time? Not a problem, let the machinery
handle the handiwork. Bored but do not want to go outside? There is Netflix and television to make
your day better. These are some examples of what technology is capable of. Technology is also a
big part why humans have better health care today, medicines? X-ray machine? Lives saved? All
because of technology. Medicine, military, industry, entertainment, livelihood and many more,
there is something for everything. The point has been made here, technology is SUPER important
for us, but is it all fun and games?

What I will be trying to prove here is how technology can have its drawbacks too. The worse
effect of the drastic changes caused by technology is humanity being too dependent on it. We
humans do not reach our full potential because our mentality tend to think that since technology is
there anytime, we do not need to work hard and we’ll just let technology do its magic. In other
words, humans become lazy. Another drawback is the damage to the environment. For every great
product or discovery comes a great sacrifice. Where do you think your phones come from? From
nothing but air? In order to create most of technology today we use a lot of metals which in turn
we can get from mining and as we all know improper mining is bad for the environment. Another
one is the world is becoming urbanized so much that nature is destroyed for the sake of
infrastructures that only benefit humanity. Another point is the ever-changing social implications
of technology. Children are addicted to technology that you will notice that there are less of them
playing outside, instead you can see them playing mobile games which can affect their studies too.
With technology too, everyone can voice out what they want and many people are actually using
technology to spread hate speech. A lot of bad development in terms of society. Finally, and I think
one that everyone should be wary about is the end of the world. Technology can end the world,
you didn’t read that wrong. With the advanced weaponry caused by technology, the end is more
possible than ever. The United States alone have 6,800 nuclear warheads and based from history
a single nuke can destroy a whole city, imagine all 6,800 hit the Earth. We can actually connect
the environment too, with all of the natural resources being depleted and the furious advancement
of technology, we are bound to fight over the resources left and that will cause a war and the war
can possibly end the world as we know. According to Albert Einstein (1940) “I do not know with
what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and
stones.” Meaning WWIII will end all civilizations and leave the Earth a former shell of itself.

To conclude, development caused by technology goes both ways. There are certainly a
lot of good things because of it and it greatly outnumbers the cons. But the cons are something to
worry about, they might seem trivial but they can actually change everything. We should not be
too engrossed on technology. Yes, let’s continue to use it to make a better world but always
remember that there should always be limitations and we are not the only living things here on
Earth. Let us make the world a better place with the aid of technology but let us not forget what
our purpose here on our planet.