Technology is an essential part of our lives. It provides the tools we need to communicate, compute, and design. But it also has profound societal impacts.
New technologies often raise new ethical questions. We should be prepared for them. Moreover, the process of technology development should be influenced by diverse expertise.
The relationship of technology with society is generally characterized as symbiotic, synergistic, and co-influential. During the early part of the twentieth century, a notion of appropriate technology emerged. This describes situations where imported technology is needed or where centralized infrastructure is required.
Many countries have taken different approaches to emerging technologies. For example, the United States has tended to rely more on litigation to address safety and security issues. In contrast, European countries have adopted the precautionary principle.
New technologies can cause pollution and harm individuals and groups. Therefore, better policies are needed in the public and private sectors to protect individuals and ensure the long-term health of technology.
One key factor in understanding the role of technology in society is to understand its complexity. Most technological products require repair, maintenance, and replacement. These processes can be expensive.
To achieve optimum design, a variety of factors must be considered. In addition, each engineering design operates within a set of constraints. Sometimes, these constraints are absolute, such as physical properties of materials or laws of physics. Other times, they are flexible, such as the amount of time it takes to produce a product or the demands of personnel.
