Technology

Yesterday, in my final lecture of History of Technology, my professor basically went through what is happening to the world due to technology and the idea of technopoly.
Basically, we have entered a world where technology is no longer optional. It is mandatory. Kids in elementary school now need to learn to use computers even if they don't want to. It is pushed on them and they are required to learn it. Yet, they are never taught how these computers work, or even how any of the simpler technologies work. We, as a younger generation, are very ignorant of how technology works, yet we use it more than anyone has before.
In doing so, we have also forgotten the importance of the past. In order to understand where we are now, we must realize that there were reasons for developing these initial basic technologies and why people back then needed it. History has basically become something forgotten and schools focus more on sciences and math rather than any arts classes due to the fact that science and math leads to new technology while the arts do not. The arts have become suppressed so that science and math can move forwards. For example, the arts budgets have gotten cut, while the engineering ones did not really. How is it that I can get handouts for all my engineering classes, but we are not allowed to get handouts in my history class? Pretty sad, really.

Anyways, the professor also said how technology is always seen as a good thing, but consider this quote and think about how it may be possible that new technology is created as a solution to a problem that was created by a previous idea:

If there had been no railway to conquer distances, my child would never have left his native town and I should need no telephone to hear his voice; if travelling across the ocean by ship had not been introduced, my friend would not have embarked on his sea-voyage and I should not need a cable to relieve my anxiety about him.

 Just a thought I thought I'd share. That quote is from Freud :)