Lilly Humtsoe
Dept. of political science,
St. Joseph’s College
Modern development is generally identified with‘ progress,’ growth’ or change.Development is thought to be the living spirit behind every success in the field of industry, transportcommunication, science and technology, agriculture, space, health, culture, entertainment, etc. It has a mesmerising effect upon the modern minds. Development is accepted by everybody as the secular and rational way of conducting the affairs of the state in the general good, irrespective of the differences of gender, class, colour, castes and creed. Development is thought to be the only way out from all the ills that have accumulated over centuries. The then American President, Harry S. Truman gave new meanings to development at the end of the Second World War in 1945 and since then, it was formally accepted as the goal of state policy incorporated the same as the basis of philosophy and ideology of the state. This also coincided with the formal inauguration of the so-called ‘Development Decades’, formation of ‘Development Communities’, launching of ‘Development Projects’ world over. From then onwards, development was used as a potent weapon for progress. Consequently lack of development is interpreted as serious handicap and disability.
When it comes to development, technology is always linked to it. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the notion of progress was closely linked with technological development. No doubt, Modern Technology has revolutionized our lifestyle and made our life easier. Today, we are more satisfied, confident and also enjoy greater freedom than our ancestors. Modern human has succeeded in mastering both time and space with every incremental doses of new technology. Technology has transformed our being. It is difficult to imagine our life without the use of modern technology in our day to day life. With the dawn of modern era, technologies have endowed humans with the modern humans with all the possible comforts and possibilities. Without it we are handicap. Technology makes it possible for a more innovated society and broad social change. Cell phones, for example, have changed lives of millions throughout the world. Technology is a wonderful tool that is supposed to help human improve their quality of life but unfortunately, everything was not nice and fair with modern technological development.
The paradox of development of modern technology is that, it is not always accompanied with ‘progresses’ or ‘growth’ because it does not develop the whole society. There is no doubt that science and technology have made remarkable contributions to raise the standard of living and to improve the quality of life, but it has also increased the gap between the rich and the poor. While on the one hand, tremendous progress in the medieval science, immunology and drugs had alleviated the human sufferings and has increased the span of life; on the other hand it has increased the destructive power of man in the form of weapons of mass destruction and excessive use of drugs. The paradox of Technology is that, it becomes a means of domination, control and exploitation which can be threatening at times. The more advance technology becomes, the more it seems to have control over our lives. The paradox of the mass communication technology is that we are growing more distant from our friends when we choose to make mobiles, smartphones, computers, televisions and the like, our primary means of communication with each other. We value and depend on objects more than our fellow human beings. Excessive use of these prevents us to form a meaningful relationship with each other.
Modern military technology brought total war to its fullest realization. In the 17th Century, it took thirty years for the state of Central Western European to slaughter half the population of the central Europe. In the second decade of the 20th Century, it took only four years for them to bleed one another into a state of exhaustion and for some, collapse. But the atomic bomb, and especially the hydrogen bomb, made it possible to inflict catastrophic damage in minutes, or at the most hours, that previously had taken years, and their damage was tantamount to near annihilation of human race and environmental degradation. Today, every country, especially developed countries is equipped with the most latest and sophisticated weapons. A country is qualified to be called a developed country, if it possesses all the latest technologies. The so called developed countries are engaged in nuclear armament race. The strongest and the deadliest equipment a country possess, the more powerful and famous they become, but the paradox is that those weapons are meant for destruction. British historian Hobsbawn calls the 20th century, the age of extremes. A century of unprecedented progress and unprecedented destruction and killing.
In the process of development,Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of Earth's environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.
The modern age is considered to be the age of ‘enlightenment’ and ‘progress’. Human beings are considered to be guided by reason and rationality, but the paradox is that we find the worst forms of genocide today than before the dawn of modern era. Through the implementation of scientific and modern technologies and development of various modern sophisticated weapons, things gets done easily, but we also should not forget that even killing of human becomes easier. The purpose of modern Technology is to make life easier and solve our problems but the paradox is that we misuse it and we become too dependent and get addicted to it. The worst thing is that are we enslaved by it.
