The Economic Effects Of Technological Progress Essay

The Economic Effects Of Technological Progress Essay

The post-war era has witnessed tremendous technological progress. As a result of this the horizons of space have receded.Along with this there is a simultaneous widening of man's vision. Man had reached the frontiers of his thought. It is now assuming new dimensions.

Technology had been welcomed with high hopes and aspirations--the aspiration that it could bring about an astonishingly rapid transformation of the whole material aspect of man's life. This change has begun to evolve. In many nations the change is gaining momentum. Like the industrial revolution, the technological revolution will affect and alter all areas of life, transforming man's culture and values as well as his neighbourhood. It is penetrating into every segment of man's activities, such as religion, philosophy, art, ethics, politics.

What shape will the technological society assume? What values, will it follow? Will the changes in the pattern of living and mode of thinking of the technological society be for the good or ill of man? A lengthy, soul-searching and provocative dialogue on these issues is going on among scientists, and all categories of social thinkers who visualize the coming trends.

Technological progress, with its after effects, such as smog. traffic jams. noise, the tyrant job-menacing automation and computer, is going to create tension in the minds of the people and will even affect their nerves. In an atmosphere charged with such forces, man is going to lead a tension filed life. A new type of psychological conditioning is essential for man to adapt himself to such a changing environment.

Technology, with its own laws of efficiency and rational method is not only creeping into all avenues of man's life, but it is also changing man's culture, values and even his neighbourhood. In this world, man's vision of material wants had widened. There is an insatiable thirst for material comforts. There is a mad rush for accumulation of power and wealth-- a mood that is reflected in the behaviour patterns of individuals as well as of nations.

The world of technology is a cruel, corrupt. competitive one. In this race for material comforts man had no time for scruples. He is prepared to do anything and everything to achieve his goal. In short the long established ethical and moral values of life are increasingly being
discarded. Not only that, the laws of technology crush the old inefficient but lovable human traits, such as man's emotions, creativity and basic urges.

In the highly technical nations the normal social structure of society is changed for the worse. In these nations, man's basic needs such as peace, quiet, solitude, privacy, autonomy, which are essential to enable him to enjoy the benefits of technology are all suppressed. As a result of the repression of his natural instincts, man becomes frustrated and finds an outlet in aggressiveness and destructiveness ranging from roaring outboard motors to rockets and missiles.

The picture is not so gloomy as we thing. Man still has the capacity to shape his world. But he should guard against the dangerous attitude held by a few that man should adapt himself to the world of technology rather than fashioning a world to suit his characteristics. Similarly he should arrest the urge to use technology to conquer nature. Instead he should learn to live in harmony with it. If man could sharpen his vision bases on these assumptions perhaps in time to come man's ingenuity will suggest some suitable solutions to the problems created today by technological progress.