Human Inventions Move The Societies Backward
Outline
- Introduction.
- Factors to gauge if a society is developing or moving backward.
- How human inventions have moved the societies backward:
- Inventions of war tools and machines leading to subjugation of one society by another.
Case in point: “Colonisation”
- Inventions lead to power that creates power relationship between the societies.
Example: Poor countries accepting the hard conditions proposed by the powerful ones.
- The Economic disparity is the result of industrialization.
- Nationalism- a myopic and harsh philosophy- is because of the nation-state system- a brainchild of mankind.
- Carbon emissions resulting in derogation of the atmosphere is the result of human inventions.
- Freedom is being curtailed by the media and internet.
Case in point: Agenda setting through media and internet
- Despite major inventions humans feel lost and unhappy.
A look into the happiness index.
- Time is saved because of enhanced communications, but only to be lost on social media and the internet.
- Instances of gloomy state of affairs because of human inventions:
- Global Warming- because of vehicles and industrialization.
- North-South divide- because of the man-made driven concept of globalization.
- Racism and apartheid- because of power relationships.
- Counter Argument: Human Inventions have greatly developed the human societies:
- Many of the deadly diseases have vanished because of human created vaccines.
- Global Hunger has come to an end by the virtue of human development in agricultural sciences.
- Human inventions in the field of communications have led to spread of knowledge and information.
- Solutions to bring about the betterment in societies through human inventions:
- More research and innovation need to be done in fields that can end economic disparity.
- Tools must be built that connect different civilizations and end nationalism and xenophobia.
- Apart from health and wealth, happiness of people should also be cared for.
- The usage of social media and the internet must be reduced by creating bonds between family members.
- Conclusion.
Throughout the course of history, mankind has been remarkable when it comes to inventions. He has successfully solved serious predicaments and resolved issues pertaining to health, wealth and development. However, in this endless procedure of creativity and innovation, one questions if society has really progressed? Philosophers, like Yuval Noah Harari, are of the opinion that humans have actually moved backwards. The freedom, equality, happiness and confidence that humans enjoy themselves are curtailing with each major innovation. The present day power relationships between the countries and colonialism of previous centuries are the result of creation of war machines. The industrialization of the 19th century led to capitalism, therefore, economic disparity. The man-made concept of nation-state produced ferocious wars. The current existential threat of global warming and nuclear war are also the blessings of man and his inventions. What is more worrisome is the fact that despite numerous creations, more than half of the world population feel lost and unhappy. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to assume that humans and their tools only produce dreadful results. The control over deadly diseases and end of global hunger manifest that human interventions produce good results also. All in all, human inventions, like any coin, have two sides, the negatives can be withdrawn through pragmatic steps at the global level.