Has the Progress in Technology come to a Halt?

“A good piece of technology dreams of the day when it will be replaced by a newer piece of technology. This is one definition of progress.”

– Douglas Coupland.

The innovation in technology has been at its peak in the twenty first century. Its progress has been slow but it has had great influence in the lives of human beings. Discovery in every field of natural sciences has led to renovation in our daily lives. From the creation of motorcycles to the building of cars to flying airplanes in the sky.

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It has even touched branches of biology, helping out in biotechnology even going as far as altering the DNA of species, which has become possible due to this progression in technology. But unfortunately this progress has stagnated for quite a while now. Though who is to blame for this pause? Should nature be blamed for not evolving or should scientists be blamed for not being creative enough.

It was wisely pointed out by Stanislaw Ulam that:

“One conversation centered on the ever accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue”.

Great Innovations in Technology:

In the last two to three centuries man has landed on the moon, made his way to mars, eliminated diseases such as small pox from the world and has even provided states with nuclear power. These were the true discoveries that were made by the scientists, these were the revolutionary changes that helped man understand the universe better. But these discoveries have come to a halt for the past two decades in the least. The only innovation that arrives is the new model of cell phones but that technically is not much progress at least not as great as putting a man on the moon.

Hyman Rickover strongly rejected the progress of technology, he was reported to have said:

“It troubles me that we are so easily pressured by purveyors of technology into permitting so-called “progress” to alter our lives without attempting to control it – as if technology were an irreplaceable force of nature to which we meekly submit”.

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How to make Progress in Technology:

Making progress in technology might not be as easy as it seems. It takes time to understand the chemistry of nature in order to try testing it out. One must first learn the behavior from one source and adopt it in many other fields like using technology to make artificial limbs is also one of the greatest innovation in technology but it did not pop out itself and the idea was not published immediately, it was after a series of tests and trials, failures and re-dos did the scientist finally succeed for it took time to understand the limbs first and then making limbs that would actually work and help support them.

It is as Hans Christian Von Baeyer said:

“If you do not understand something, break it apart; reduce it to its components. Since they are simpler than the whole, you have a much better chance of understanding them; and when you have succeeded in doing all that, put the whole thing back together again”.

Conclusion:

In the end, the progress in technology has not had its major breakthrough as of yet, but we can hope that the scientist are still researching various fields of cosmology, aerodynamics as well as medical fields. It takes time and careful understanding to make any sound decisions. In order to make their research known they deduce facts and perform experiments, but lately none of this experimenting has succeeded. Scientists and researchers are still busy looking for more radical and outstanding ideas and working hard to introduce them in our lives.

Yann Martel tried to explain how progress of technology has not halted in the following words:

“Progress is unstoppable. It is a drumbeat to which we must all march. Technology helps and good ideas spread – these are two laws of nature. If you do not let technology help you, if you resist good ideas, you condemn yourself to dinosaur hood! I am utterly convinced of this.”

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