Digital Activity
Science & Technology are one of the most important aspects of this world & Human life. Technology has been updating, it is an ever evolving field & it will keep on evolving further. There is no end to the expansion of Technology from Landline Telephone to Mobile Phones & now to Smartphones. From 2G , 3G, 4G, 5G & in future 6G & so on. We have artificial Intelligence & Drone Technology & there is so much more that is going on and many things which have already been achieved. Development in the technology field is a never ending process. And its impact on human life is also so huge that it is important for all of us to understand the ever evolving field of Technology.
Science
Science refers to discovery of an existing fact. Science does not discover something new neither it create something new, the whole job of science is to understand the underlying principles in action. When any act is happening in the natural surroundings, in the universe, on this planet , within our body there is a cause behind it. Science believes there is a cause for an effect. Science believes there is a reaction to every action.
The whole purpose of science is to study an action that’s taking place in nature, on this earth , in this universe, to any biological body, plants, trees etc and then try to find out the reason that is causing the effect.
The fundamental principles of science
There is a cause behind every effect –
science firmly believes there is a cause behind every effect. Fundamental duty of science is to find the underlying cause which is causing the effect. Now this effect this concerned with every natural phenomenon ,every biological phenomenon , every chemical that exists within nature & outside of it i.e man made materials.
Every Action has reaction
We aren’t only talking about Newton’s 3rd law here, but even otherwise science believes in action & reaction of phenomenon. If aur pollution will increase , the noxious fumes & chemicals will automatically increase this will automatically decrease the quality of air. If untreated pollutants will be released in the water it will automatically decrease the quality of the water. As the toxic chemical which are present in the untreated pollutant. During corona as there was reduction in the
Consistency in cause & effect relationship
The purpose of science is to study the consistent relationship between cause and effect. Science is not concerned with one or few cause-effect relationships. It is concerned with Consistency, there has to be consistency in the pattern. There may be aberration which may also cause same effect or different effect what the purpose of science is to study the consistency in the cause and effect relationship. Obviously science also takes care of the exceptions as there are always exceptions. Consistency is also needed in order to prove the discovery to be scientific
Testability
This is an important principle and characteristic of science that the discovery should be testable. If the cause and effect relationship cannot be tested then it will remain a hypothesis. If we Say a lot of things but can’t Prove it, it remains an empty talk. Similarly if science cannot prove the cause and effect relationship then it will remain a hypothesis. Yes hypothesis can be also used in the future research and maybe able to get tested in future. However the scientist who has made a claim of a discovery then his discovery should be capable of being tested.
Consistency in testability
The discovery should be capable of being tested but at the same time there should be consistency in the results. The same test should be able to give the same results time and again.
Verifiability
Science remains fiction without verification. Verifiability means any scientist can verify the test and the result using the given technique which is used by the scientist who has claimed a discovery.
For any scientific discovery, method or technique to become acceptable in the realm of science it should be capable of being tested by others in the field.
Publication
The scientific discovery should be published in an acceptable scientific journal which is widely accepted by the scientific field. The purpose for the publication is so that other scientists can verify it.
Generality
The scientific discoveries should be generally acceptable by the scientific field professionals i.e other scientists. For any scientific discovery to be valid it is important that other scientists from the field also accept it. It is not enough merely that a scientist claim that he has discovered something what is important for it to be acceptable as a scientific discovery is that the other scientists, i.e. a considerable number of scientists have accepted it to be true. What is required is not that all the scientist have verified it to be true but there should be a considerable number of scientists who have verified it and approved it.
Scientific method
The method which is used for making a scientific discovery should also be a generally accepted scientific method. The tools and techniques used for scientific discovery should be generally acceptable in the field of science.
Uniqueness
the discovery should be unique, it should be something new and something which has not been discovered yet. It Can be an extension of the existing knowledge however the purpose should be to discover something which is new and something which is totally unique till date. Things which are already discovered can’t be considered as a scientific discovery unless more knowledge is added to the scientific discovery or something new which was not considered before is added to the scientific discovery.
Honesty
Entire process of the scientific investigation the purpose of the investigation the objective of the investigation all should be honestly followed. There should not be any melafide intention or fraudulent and corrupt intention behind making the scientific discovery. The honesty integrity and integral part of any scientific investigation.
Public good
The purpose of investigation and discovery should be general public good. Ultimate aim of scientific discovery should be the benefit of society.
Should not be detrimental
The purpose of scientific investigation and discovery should not be for the damage of the environment & society at large. Nuclear weapon, hydrogen bombs are made by scientist for self defence and security of the country however we have seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki how the destruction was caused by such dangerous scientific weapons.
Benefit not of the few
The purpose of the scientific investigation should not be benefit of the few if rich people scientist for making discovery and developing techniques which will only benefit them and be dangerous for the people at large or will make them more and more poor and will make the rich people more and more rich such scientific discovery will only harm the society.
Science and Technology goes hand in hand
Science and Technology can be considered as a two sides of the same coin as the scientific principles which are evolved ultimately help in the development of the technology. However the purpose of Science and Technology is common somewhere down the line. However science is not concerned with how moral or immoral the thing is, it is only concerned with what is happening and how it is happening. The purpose of science is only to know what the thing is how does it happen and why does it happen.
It doesn’t discover something new but what did discovers which is already existing. Has the question of morality or immorality doesn’t arise from that point of view for the science.
However when science is used for the purpose of development of the technology then definitely morality should play a pivotal role.
Science will only tell us what the principles are, how the things are happening, and what are the underlying causes, now it’s up to the scientist who develops Technology that they should not use such scientific principles for the detriment of society.
Features of Technology
Ever Evolving
Technology is an ever evolving concept. What is existing is not the ultimate ,what is created isn’t the ultimate but something more efficient and time saving and cost saving more eco friendly is always attempted to be discovered.
Telephone was discovered people at the time thought it is such a boon to the society and something like this may never come again however later on mobile phone we discovered and at that time people thought there will be nothing like mobile in the future and this is the ultimate Technology.
Before mobile phones arrived Pager had arrived and pager was considered as a sensation. It was hard for people to believe how somebody could message someone on a small device. Very few people at the time had the luxury of having a pager.
However after a gap of 5 years or so mobile phones arrived in the market. When mobile phones arrived it was a sensation. People used to wonder how somebody could talk far away from a person just by speaking on a mobile handset.
Initially when it arrived it was luxury for only few it was also very expensive to talk on mobile phones. The call rate was very costly and buying a mobile phone was also a luxury. However slowly the mobile technology availability of the mobile became more accessible for the common man.
Initially when the mobile phones arrived after that in the span of 8-10 years having one mobile phone in the entire house was considered to be a big thing.
Slowly and slowly as the time passed by there was more and more development in the field of technology of mobile phones, sim cards and network connections. As more and more companies get involved in the mobile phone market with competition there is an obvious goal to make the device more cheaper to attract the customer. Hence there was a constant improvement in the technology and slowly and slowly the mobile phone after a span of around 13-15 years started becoming a smartphone.
However before this transformation of mobile phones into smartphone, there was a stage where mobile phones with camera recording internet facilities had evolved. Now that Technology also stayed for good 5-7 years until slowly and slowly the technology was further improved and with the development of Android system , it’s application on such digital phones was worked out. Which was ultimately applied for creating smartphones and ultimately smartphones became a new sensation.
Initially smartphones were also a luxury for a few however slowly and slowly as it happens the technology kept evolving and slowly now almost every individual has a smartphone.
Initially having one smartphone at home was also considered as a big thing but slowly and slowly there are as many smartphones as many members in the family. At times there are even more smartphones than the number of members in the family. It is because sometimes when the smartphone gets old they are not sold but kept for use in the time of necessity.
Technologies grow together
It is important for us to understand that whenever one Technology grows it leads to development in technology which is a necessary component for the use of Technology.
For an example
When the mobile phone arrived the SIM card only provided call and message facility. But then new phones arrived, it was a better version of a mobile phone with more features like internet and gaming , phone camera etc . It was obvious that the technology of SIM cards had to evolve to provide internet, which is necessary to use internet features of the phone.
So Initially from 1G, 2G to 3G then 4G now 5G and there is already an effort to develop the 6G which might be achieved by 2030. We Very well know that this won’t be the end, once the 6G is evolved the effort will be to develop 7G & 8G so on & on.
Development of the alternative Technology
When one technology is being followed, the researchers and the scientist keep making efforts to find an alternative Technology which will be better and more convenient and cheaper to use.
Recently starlink has been developed by Space X direct satellite high speed internet connections especially this will be helpful in Remote areas. Now this will be a boon once it starts if it enters in India it will be big Competition to the existing network operators. It will provide internet connection in remote areas at a very high speed. We very well know even till this date network coverage in the remote areas is very poor however now with the new technology which is developed by Space X as starlink of direct satellite connection it could be a sensation in the telecom sector.
Development of one Technology leads to Development of another technology development of One Technology leads to the development of another Technology. For example:
We can consider Development of Internet Technology which ultimately led to the introduction of search engines like Google , Morzila Firefox etc. now with the help of this search engine and internet a lot of research work is done while developing new technologies.
It’s obvious that one development leads to another development.
Benefits of Technology
Improvement in the existing ways of doing business
Technology always leads to improvement in the existing ways of doing work. Until the time the computer was developed a lot of work was done manually. Now with the development of computer lots of work has been done efficiently in computers similarly with the advent of internet connection the whole method of working information , research etc has changed drastically.
Cost reduction
One of the prime benefits of Technology development is that it reduces the cost of doing business. With the development of Technology one of the chief aim is to address cost reduction in the existing manner of doing the thing.
Unless and until Technology gives cost reduction and time reduction there is no incentive for the customers. Unless & untill customers will see benefit of time and cost or only of cost or only of time only then they will pay the money to buy the technology which has arrived in the market
Time Reduction
One of the main advantages of technology development is saving time in doing the task. It is one of the major attributes of technology which attracts people towards it.
If there is no time reduction if there is no cost reduction then why will any customer pay to buy the technology? Yah samne still by the technology out of curiosity but unless and until there is a advantage of time and money or time or money customers won’t get attracted to the technology.
Demerits of Technology
Can Affect Job markets
Certain Technologies can affect the Job market, the number of persons required prior to the development of the technology and the number of persons required after the development of Technology may not remain the same.
It is possible that artificial intelligence will affect the job market badly in the future.
Environment Impact
Whenever new technology is developed care is taken to make it more environment friendly. However despite this certain Technologies can badly affect the environment.
Complex
At times technology makes things more complex. Something that can be done easily manually may not be done so easily through Technology. For example, nowadays there are machines for collection of the electricity bill payment for cash payment.
There are few employees of the electricity company to guide the customers. But the defect is that customers have to put a single note in the machine as it doesn’t accept multiple notes together.
Now this work can be easily done by the two employees which are present in the traditional method of cash payment.
Similarly in banking machines for cash deposits & bank passbook printing etc mostly makes things more complex. It is an easy & smooth process if done by humans.
So technology is not ideal for each and every work. Certain work is better suited to only humans.
Malfunction
It is possible that if Technology Malfunctions there can be very dangerous consequences.
We have heard cases of Smartphones blasting cause of Heat & Battery flaws. We can speak about many examples where the cause of malfunctioning devices or defects grave accidents have taken place.
Misuse
We can’t blame it on technology but it is the fault of the users who do it. But many times innocent users get scammed by intelligent users with fraudulent mindset.
Perhaps the companies developing technologies need to pay more attention to educating customers on how to stay safe from possible Misuse.
Ethical Considerations
Should not be harmful
While developing technology, developers must ensure that it is not harmful to society at large.
Sustainable Development
Ecological & environmental effects of technology should be considered. Anything harmful to the environment should not be developed.
Common Good
The purpose of technology should be to serve the common good & not merely making profit.
Releasing Warning
Whenever any danger is discovered the companies must immediately inform the existing users & prospective users. They must remove the defect & upgrade it & must stop supply in the meantime.
Future Possible Danger of Artificial Intelligence
Not only its impact on the job market but I suspect there could be a possible threat of Artificial Intelligence going out of Control. Ultimately it is Robotic System, with Robotic System there is always a threat involved that because of Malfunctions it could go out of Control. Obviously the Scientist are capable of handling it but it’s possible it may do a lot of damage before it could be controlled. It is not necessary that such malfunctioning will occur for sure but there is always a possibility.
Conclusion
It is important for us to understand the importance of science & technology. The purpose, features , the relationship between science & technology & the difference between the two. In this essay we discussed What is Science? What are the principles of Science? What is Technology? What are features of Technology, merits & demerits, Ethical Considerations.
Science is something already existing & technology is something new created. Science depends upon observation & experimentation to test & prove the Hypothesis which is formed. We saw Broadband internet connections then Fiber & now SpaceX developed Starlink. We have seen landline telephones, then Pager , then mobile phones, then Smartphones & from 1G,2G,3G, 4G,5G & 6G is expected by 2030. Technologies keep upgrading there is constant innovation involved, efforts are made to bring a better version or an alternative Technology.
However as Humans we should not forget that Smartness is not in the Phone but in the one who made it. Which was a Human. Similarly Intelligence is not in Artificial Intelligence but the intelligent mind which made it. We need technology for sure & constant innovation is always going to happen but we should not forget that technology is not superior to Humans, we are superior to it. We should not get so lost in technology that we forget our real world. We are capable of Constant Innovation, Innovation is one of the features of Human Mind not alone of Technology. We should be wise in using technology, as wisdom is the only thing that we humans have & no Technology on the earth can ever have it .
By: AMIT LAXMICHAND GALA
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