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Has society become controlled by technology?

The answer to this question is definitely no.

Man, in the generic sense, is the smallest building block of society. Thus if society has become controlled by technology, then man has to be controlled by technology as well. Technology to date is just a tool which facilitates activities of man, and at present has no means of controlling man. Maybe in science fiction movies, it may be the case, but at present, there is no technology that is sentient, and thus able to control society.

Society has been evolving for thousands of years now. Over time, various technologies have been invented to help certain aspects of society. Breakthroughs in medicine, science, biology, engineering, and others have all facilitated something in society. But never once did it control nor had the capability to control society.

Why? Because technology is just a tool.

Let's take transportation for example.

In the beginning, society's primary means of transportation was running or walking. Towns and villages tended to be smaller because population was proportionately smaller as well.

Then someone figured out you can ride animals. For many years various societies depended on the horse, mule, camel, and elephant as their means of transportation.

Then a breakthrough technology called the wheel came about. People figured that you can harness one or more animals and tow a wagon! So aside from being mounted on an animal, man was able to ride on a wagon, and haul more people or cargo. With advancements in medicine people lived longer and population started growing. Towns and villages started getting bigger. People needed to travel longer distances.

A few centuries later, someone invented the internal combustion engine, and society started using vehicles to travel the longer distance within the ever growing town or villages. A few more decades after that, people figured that they can fly using wings, propellers, and the same internal combustion engine. Society soon figured that they can travel using the plane.

If you look at this particular technology, you can see that technology doesn't control man nor society. As a matter of fact, man controls technology, and is always evolving it to fit his need.

Some might say that people today are more controlled by technology-like computers and the Internet. That might be true for some people, but it is totally untrue for society as a whole. How can this be? First, there will always be people addicted to technology, and thus become slave to it like drug addicts; these are the exceptions, and this is true with anything. However, from the perspective of society, technology is the one being controlled. Like another tool, society is using computers and the Internet to extend their horizon and improve their lives. Look at the article "How the Internet has improved lives."

If you think about it, the fact that technology is making people's lives better proves that society is controlling technology. It is just that some people are mistaking dependency on technology as a sign that society has become controlled by technology. It is true that some people depend on it, but society as a whole, and man for that matter, is continuously evolving technology to fit their need.

Thus the answer to the question "Has society become controlled by technology?" is a resounding "NO".

Learn more about this author, Juancho Forlanda.
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