Technology, Its Advancement and Impediment

Technology progresses humanity in forms of therapy and engineering. Although in the advancement of technology, humanity hinders the relationships of individuals.

Throughout the reading of Larry D. Rosen’s article “Are we all becoming Pavlov’s Dogs?”, Orwell’s book “1984”, and outside research in regards to the topics mentioned above, technology is presented in different aspects which contribute to its advancement and impediment, which will be discussed in this essay. Technology is the reason behind the advancement of multiple types of therapies. Take for example, cancer nanotherapy, a more “precise” and “less invasive” therapy in regards to cancer therapies. A lot of cancer therapies are “limited to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy”, but nanotherapy uses a form of technology called nanotechnology which helps target the “cancer cells and neoplasms”, which in effect makes the therapy cheaper and less complicated. The development of nanotechnology within therapy helps patients receive treatments which are more effective in the administration of cancer treatments. Furthermore, telerehab is another form of therapy that has arose due to the presence of technology. “Telerehabilitation refers to the delivery of rehabilitation services via information and communication technologies”, this form of therapy is no different than in-clinic therapy, besides the fact that it is applied throughout technology like computers and cellular devices. This therapy helps improve the access, for individuals, to rehabilitation services like “assessment, monitoring, prevention, intervention, supervision, education, consultation, and counseling”. Overall, telerehab helps people who suffer from chronic and progressive conditions like heart failure, obstructive pulmonary disease, Parkinson’s disease, etc.

Many therapists think that the use of technology is volatile because it is continuously changing. Although this may be true, technology is “more a part of everyday life, used by lots of people to great effect”. Technology has become such an overwhelming factor in society, that it is intertwined with individuals in one or many ways without doubt. As a result, through technology, people communicate via text, email, and call in order to schedule important appointments, shifts, events, etc. In this way patients are able to communicate easier with their therapists in regards to their issue or situation. Comparatively, engineering has also progressed drastically because of technology. To emphasize, software engineering applies “engineering principles and systematic methods to develop programs and operating data for computers”. Essentially, technology is applied to technology itself in order to advance it because software engineering “remains synonymous with innovation”. When applying these concepts, new softwares, apps, games, devices, etc. are developed to keep up with the present changes in technology and the trends present within society.

Additionally, another form of engineering which advances with technology is aerospace engineering. Aerospace engineering consists of “conducting research, the designing and development of vehicles and systems for atmospheric and space environments”. With that in mind, aerospace engineers “test prototypes to make sure that they function according to plan” and they do so by, using technology like rapid prototyping, which allows the engineers to “evaluate the design variations of parts, the estimation of the surface quality of the model, the evaluation of the part itself through 3D visualisation and much more”. Being that the Earth is continuously changing with time, accommodations must be made to better fit the changes occurring and thus proves the importance of aerospace engineering.

It is often thought that engineering is just simply designing and constructing buildings. In reality, engineering is present in forms such as civil, mechanical, chemical, petroleum, electrical, aerospace, etc. Technological applications are present in all forms of engineering. Technology is needed to “design, evaluate, develop, test, modify, install, inspect, and maintain a wide variety of products and systems” in order to make innovations within the engineering industry. If it weren’t for the technology based in engineering, innovations in the modern society, like Iphones, computers, cars, etc. would not exist in the modern day.

Equally important, as technology progresses, it is observed that technology also hurts the relationships of individuals. In fact, Larry D. Rosen Ph.D. stated in his article that “we began to spend more and more time with our face pointed down at tiny screens, rather than oriented out to the world”, by spending so much time focused on devices, many individuals are not aware of the importance of relationships with others. Individuals end up regarding their devices as “human connection”, which in all honesty human connection is not a cellular device, human connection is interacting and being surrounded by actual human beings. Technology like phones affectі relationships with anyone that is considerably close to an individual because people become infatuated with their phones.

Another key point, technology can restrict relationships with other individuals. As mentioned in Orwell’s novel “1984” the telescreens “received and transmitted simultaneously” which meant that Winston was always being watched wherever there was a telescreen. “In the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement was scrutinized” proved difficulty when Julia was implemented into Winston’s life. Winston and Julia could not have a relationship because they were always being watched. The technology in “1984” prevented two individuals from having a relationship, that led them to have a secret relationship, which ultimately got them caught and were subjected to torture.

One could easily believe that technology keeps them connected to family and friends, whereas technology is not needed to sustain relationships. Once an individual acquires “control of their technology rather than their technology controlling them” they will realize that actual interactions mean more than a direct message on instagram. Relationships are built through interactions not cellular devices.

As has been noted in this essay, technology will continue to be involved in the progression of humanity in various ways, but specifically in therapy and engineering as mentioned earlier. Certainly, humanity does continue to progress due to technology, but technology also hinders humanity in particular aspects like relationships. In short, technology is the best of both worlds when it comes to the advancement or impediment of humanity. Neither side to this issue is perfect, but also neither is disagreeable.