How Has Technology Affected Modern Society?
By: Bred • Essay • 790 Words • January 23, 2010 • 1,673 Views
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How Has Technology Affected Modern Society?
On earth, technology has and will always be used to sculpt and create our modern society. Without technology, our lives wouldn’t be just the usual walk in the park. Technology is a huge contributor to the well being of human kind. Just try to imagine how hard it would be to make it through the day without the simplest of technologies. We have grown so used to the luxuries that technology provides that many wouldn’t know how to adapt to the traditional and simpler methods. Technology has surely proven itself to be very beneficial, if not necessary. Some people may be confused on what exactly technology is? Technology is the systematic study of the methods and techniques employed in industry, research, agriculture, and commerce. These studies are then put to use in order to make everyday life a little easier. Some may seem to think that technology is not necessary due to the opinion that it brings out the worst in people but regardless of their thoughts, no one is slowing down for these people.
The earliest technologies of all time are said to be made during the Paleolithic Era. When these technologies were made, language was a key factor in their creation. Right around 250,000 years ago, homo sapiens used the first kind of language. With this language, humans were able to communicate their different ideas, or technologies, through verbal communication. Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long before the emergence of Homo sapiens approximately 200,000 years ago. These tools greatly aided the early humans in their hunter-gatherer lifestyle to perform a variety of tasks including butchering carcasses, chopping wood, cracking open nuts, skinning an animal for its hide, and even forming other tools out of softer materials such as bone and wood. Other technological advances made during the Paleolithic era were clothing and shelter. the adoption of both technologies cannot be dated exactly, but they were key to human kinds’ sucess. As early as 380,000 BCE, humans were constructing temporary wood huts. Clothing, adapted from the fur and hides of hunted animals, helped humanity expand into colder regions. This causes humans to migrate out of Africa by 200,000 BCE and into other continents, such as Eurasia. Humans began to work bones, antler, and hides, as evidenced by burins and racloirs produced during this period. The discovery and use of fire was a turning point in the technological evolution of humankind. The exact date of its discovery is not known but it is estimated to have been used before 1,000,000 BCE.
As soon as agricultural societies came about, about 10,000 years ago, more advanced technologies were invented. These technologies included better ways of handling cold weather environments, channeling rivers and streams into dry environments, and taming useful animals for work use such as the camel, the ox,