Does Technology Create More Problems Than It Solves?

Technology is the use of machines to solve problems that would be inefficient to solve manually. The mobile phone and the computer are some fairly recent developments. Technology is a tool, used by humans as a modern method of communication which is beneficial to society, specifically in social structures such as the education and healthcare systems.

Usage of technology in the classroom is growing exponentially, with more and more schools making laptops obligatory for students, to aid their learning. With the internet as a relatively new means of communication, a vast bank of knowledge and information is readily available to students. Laptops allow for convenient access to knowledge, where the user can find new information. Without such technology, someone seeking information would need to make a specific journey to a library, find a relevant book, and then find the information from the book. For example, a specific quote from a specific poem can be found in less than 5 seconds by means of technology and the internet, but can take hours to find the same quote, manually. Stephen Covey stated that 'It's a fact that more people watch television and get their information that way than read books.' This clearly demonstrates the ease at which information can now be obtained. Books are available in digital form, just a small representation of progress. E-books range from between 200-300kb of data, and the typical optic fibre internet connection can receive 10,000kb of data per second, which is around 40 books every second. A search can then be conducted to find specific words or phrases to retrieve specific information. Unlike the manual method of visiting the library to find a book, technology clearly provides an extremely efficient way of obtaining information.

One way that information can be used is in healthcare. Technology means that the average person can enter their symptoms into a search engine, and immediately find out their medical problem, how to tackle the problem with minimal discomfort, and the complete expected cycle of their illness. Manually, the sick person would have to travel to the hospital, wait for a doctor to be finished with other patients to be diagnosed, then would have to pay the huge consultation fees, medicinal fees, etc. Also, technology has allowed for better treatment of patients, with less suffering, as sophisticated X-Ray machines accurately diagnose broken bones and medicines are manufactured with extreme efficiency in factories, thousands of doses ready for consumption in mere minutes.

Some believe that technology causes many problems; however, this is not the case. The problems associated with technology are not caused by technology itself, but by the humans that use technology.