Some of the old
models of the connections between societal development, science and
technology are giving rise to new ways of thinking about the impact
of the exploitation of natural resources..
Francis Bacon, in
his book ‘Advancement of Learning’ published in 1605
had established a linear model of scientific discoveries leading to
technology development, which in turn, lead to economic
development. We now know that this model is certainly not valid
today.
Technology is not
always the offspring of science. The invention of bronze three
thousand years ago came from the search for a treatment of copper
that could make it harder. Fortuitously it was discovered that the
addition of tin, a softer metal, produced a material harder and
more durable than either copper or tin alone. It was only in
the last century that we have come to understand and predict how to
make alloys.
Quite often,
technology precedes science. Steam engines came before the laws of
thermodynamics were understood. A major part of new technologies
indeed evolve from already existing science and technology. Many
advances and innovations in technology are essentially incremental
improvements in existing technologies. A technology can give rise
to new technologies, the so-called ‘spin-off’
technologies. It is not only that new science gives rise to new
technology, but the reverse is also true: new technology gives us
new science.
With the rate of
knowledge doubling up every five years, it is becoming difficult to
predict the future. ‘A technology of the 20th century’
symposium held in 1895, based on the level of knowledge that
existed at the time, would not have mentioned aeroplane, radio,
antibiotics, nuclear energy, electronics, computers or space
exploration! All of these have changed society for better and
worse. What are the equivalents of this that will be missing
when we make predictions abouit the social impact of technology, at
the dawn of the next century?
In the first half of
the twentieth century, physics occupied a dominant position. But,
bio- sciences displaced physics in that leading role now. It is not
cellular and molecular biology alone, but also ecology, that is
taking biology to a different level of impact on society. The
technological potential of biology will pose a new challenge due to
its intimate connection with agriculture and health, areas of great
political sensitivity and social importance. Technology transfer in
biological fields does not relate to just sharing the luxuries of a
consumer society but also to sharing the means of survival. The
issues in trade & technology negotiations thus become far more
complicated. The new shifts in the 21st century will be hard to
predict, but it is quite clear that the continuing wars of
information revolution and the felt impact of the ‘gene
revolution’ is shaping the future of the mankind, which will
have a profound impact on global economic and sociopolitical
scenario, that will be hard to anticipate today in its full
measure.
The acceleration of
technology has become exponential since the invention of the
microchip. In no other time in history, has technology advanced
society at such an accelerated rate. Organizations, institutions
and the individuals that make them up, often struggle to understand
technologies, their applications and the potential needs of the
future. Technology has invaded every aspect of life. Technology
affects domestic relationships, an individual's work, economic
life, leisure, the nation's institutional structure as a whole, and
changes the environment on a global scale. Mass media, and
the daily events of day-to- day living reminds individuals that
they are part of a "worldwide system of economic and technological
relationships, a great society on which we depend but which we do
not understand in its vast invisible interconnectedness. Keeping up
is a constant battle, and our failures are revealed in drug
addiction, epidemics, pollution and climate
change.
With the influx of
information available to the average person, the true skill has
become deciphering what is important and what is not. Just because
the amount of information has increased, individuals within the
society do not automatically understand this knowledge. We
sometimes feel that it means information whistling by our ears at
light speed, too fast to be absorbed.
We are said to be
living in the information age. A current problem in the
educational arena is the expectation of what new teachers must be
able to accomplish. A "circle of causality" forms between the
expectation of society on how students are taught. What
really occurs in the classroom comes through instruction by
teachers who lean heavily on the traditional model of educating
students. This line of least reistance with regards the choice of
methodology may be based on comfort level, society expectations, or
the amount of extra work they know is needed to make major changes
in teaching style. What is certain is that in a society
where events change rapidly, youth should not be trained with an
antiquated system that prepares them for jobs of the past. An
educational system must change with society.
Society does not
agree on how much technology should be part of education. Some
communities are heavily made up of people who want their young
people to be taught using the model they learned by. Other
communities feel that a new model of instruction is necessary to
help students meet the demands of the fast moving technological
society. While this argument continues, public schools and teacher
education programmes creep slowly toward integrating
technology with the realities of living with its societal
outcomes.