Draining the Earthen Resources

The question has been asked and asked again to death… Is technology ruining us? As soon as one of us decides that technology could be the worst thing that could have happened to mankind, we are faced with another undeniable instance of how technology has helped us, and proved undeniably useful in the process. However, this is not a discussion along those lines, because I very much doubt if I could settle the discussion of whether and how technology has ruined us in a short blog post. Instead, let us look at what technology has come to mean to all of us.

I surfed through a number of websites to answer this question, and I realized that in this, as in most other points of discussion, we have no in between opinion. We have the die-hard fans of technology and the die-hard foes of technology. For instance, I came across a website that stated, “With online bill-paying, banking, grocery shopping, even car shopping made easy by the Internet, there are no longer many reasons for people to leave their houses. While it is wonderful that technology is so innovative that it can make even the most dreaded, daunting tasks easy, it is sad in a way to realize that the old-fashioned ways to do virtually everything are disappearing. This could potentially have a serious impact on people, especially teens and young adults, if it hasn’t already.”

On the other hand was a comment on another website that said, “In these present times of mind blowing technological changes, technology has opened up huge possibilities to further both freedom and meaning in human life! The borderless world, at least theoretically, looks possible! Technology is increasingly playing an important role in bringing about this transformation. It has revolutionized our work places. It has cut down the unnecessary and time consuming practices which require absolutely no creative effort and can easily be handled mechanically.”

None of the comments were in any way incorrect. But neither of them managed to realize either that there are two sides to every coin. If technology is useful, and I firmly believe that it is, there is a flip side to it also, and the flip side to this coin is rather distressing also. Yes, technology is very useful. It is thanks to technology that I can do simple tasks such as chat with my friends online or even work from home as some of us do while we take it to be almost a natural part of life. Online banking, shopping, businesses… all of them have made life amazingly simple and easier. However, using technology, whether it is computers, cars, electricity or any of the other gadgets and devices that we use today, has also created an intensive demand for energy resources… and the Earth’s resources are insufficient to meet our rising energy demands.

Scientists have been looking up alternative energy sources, but each time they encounter fresh problems. Wind and solar energy is unreliable, hydro-electric power stations require dams and building a dam in any area means that that particular piece of land is destroyed through water-logging and its related problems… Furthermore, the amount of pollution that each gadget we use produces is very high. This pollution is known as carbon footprints, and carbon footprints from all the gadgets in the world are destroying the climate and the shape of the Earth as we’ve known it so far. Technology is very useful, but unless we discover ways to use it in a more environment-friendly manner, it is actually going to harm mankind.