Technology
has always been at the forefront of mankind’s endeavors. From ancient cave
dwellings to our modern cities, humans have always tried to improve their life
by adopting new technology. So, it should be no surprise that a new age of
technology is upon us after the pause forced on us by the pandemic.
Since the beginning of human civilization in
this world, the march of technology has never stopped. This unrelenting
momentum has taken its toll on human civilization. Pollution is at an all-time
high and now threatens the human survival on this planet. However, progress is not in human hands. It is
a process which feeds on itself. Making progress is in the human DNA. The human
race cannot remain static in terms of development.
Therefore, the
race has intensified of late as nations scramble to win an edge over others.
Since the beginning of civilization, it could never be controlled. It is even
less controlled now. Humans have never been able to halt their technological
progress. Because human nature is oriented towards development. It could be
technological cultural, or any other field. We cannot stop ourselves from
making progress. Many times, progress in hindsight has been a mixed blessing.
Nevertheless,
the human civilisation has sustained itself on progress.
After the
pandemic people have realized the importance of technology in their lives. How
humans controlled the pandemic with determination and technology. Huge
investments are being made to roll out new technology in all spheres of human
activity. The pace of discoveries and inventions will be accelerated as more
money pours into research and development.
Medicine and
health care are now top priorities, but other fields will not lack funding
either. Defence has always been a no-compromise issue, where funding is
provided for new weapons and systems. The Russia – Ukraine war will bring to
the fore, lacunae in weapons and systems as any war does, which nations will
have to overcome by making fresh investments in new military technology.
Of course,
all this comes at a price. Technological development is always incremental and
never a leap forward. Progress brings in
its wake ill effects. The industrial revolution brought about a huge change in
the standards of living of the people of the world in general, but has been the
root cause of pollution which we are scrambling to mitigate. The burning of
fossil fuels for energy has helped man progress but at an enormous cost.
Even the new
clean technologies which are just around the corner and which the world is
expecting to adopt in a few years, are probably not so clean. Solar, Wind
Energy, Hydrogen, are yet to prove themselves. But the scale at which they will
have to be produced and distributed to be effective, will need new investments
and new methodologies to deal with the waste products.
In fact, one of the first things man is going to do when he sets foot on another planet to colonise it, is to start polluting it. This may sound pessimistic and it probably is the wrong way to look at things. The fact however remains that we are a polluting race. Have been all along, throughout our evolution. The animals in the jungle also pollute the planet. However, their pollution does not deteriorate the overall atmospheric conditions on the planet.
So has man made any real progress at all? This is a difficult question to answer. If there were no motor cars and industries, there would be no pollution and man need not have gone after clean energy. If medical science had not progressed, man would have died early, and diseases would have kept the human population in check. It seems human progress in actually inconsequential, i.e. progress has not made the human race any better off. It has not improved his his life in any way in real terms. The Red Indian on the plains of America were not unhappy in any way before the white man came and exposed him to progress. The Red man had perfectly adapted his way of life which could have sustained him for a long time. He had found his equilibrium with nature. Something the modern and so called progressive man has not been able to do.
Man will
eventually colonise other planets. The human race will jump from one planet to
another discarding them as they become inhospitable due to his polluting ways.
This reflects the reality that we as a human race face today. So even as we talk about mending our ways in
order to save our only home, the Earth, from man-made pollution, the reality is that we
cannot do much about it, period. Nobody has admitted it, but the sooner we call
a spade by its name the better.
As the adage goes, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
