Recently I have read a book titled “Three Body Problem” by Liu Cixin, which made me think in a new perspective about how technology is developed in our world. The story shows how differently humans and aliens from the planet Trisolaris approach to technology and science, and how their different needs shape these developments.
To summarize briefly, Trisolaris is a planet which has three suns and has irregular climate patterns. It can change from extreme cold to extreme hot to habitable climates in unpredictable periods of time – the change can occur within seconds, months or years. They develop their technology with the main focus on finding a way to survive with this problem, so they try to solve the climate patterns in order to prepare for it, while also looking for other habitable planets to travel to.
Their conditions are very different from ours, therefore our reasons to develop the technologies that we currently have were different as well. This novel made me think about what these reasons could be. When I think about the inventions, two reasons for development come to my mind: need and desire. In design, engineering and many other fields, we always try to find solutions to our problems or desires.
I gave some examples in the seminar on week 10 about this as well. One of these needs was related to the military needs (Martin, 1983). There are many inventions and technologies created for military reasons, but eventually, some of their purposes changed over time, such as the internet, satellites, radars, etc. (Strickland, 2010).
Another need can be identified as the well-being of humans. For many years, people have worked on technologies, medicine and solutions to prevent, cure or decelerate diseases. As a result, we humans have gained an improved understanding of biology and developed medical technologies. Well-being also includes nutrition and therefore the improvements in agriculture as well.
Communication and transportation is also an important need that has driven technology for many years. For example, the internet, which started as a communication means in the military, was developed further throughout the years in order to enhance the communication between humans. Technologies such as phones, computers and transportation vehicles serve for the purpose of connecting people with each other.
There is also an interesting need that we have, which can’t really be categorized, unlike military or medical, that is time and effort. Many inventions and designs aim to reduce the time and effort to perform certain tasks or activities. There are many examples of products for this, from kitchen robots to smartphones.
“Technology gives us the facilities that lessen the barriers of time and distance – the telegraph and cable, the telephone, radio, and the rest.” -Emily Greene Balch, 1946
And then there are the desires of humans, such as entertainment that drive technology. Aside from its possible use for other purposes, some technologies such as television, VR games, 4D cinemas, animations, 3D sculpting pens or other cool projects serve to entertain people and designed to be used for hobbies.
I also think curiosity and the desire to gain knowledge is another factor for technological improvements. For example, we want to learn about our world, other planets, and life forms. This knowledge might not fulfill any of our needs, yet we devote our time to improve technologies to gain more information.
These are the reasons that I found which drive technology in our society. What else do you think causes technological improvements? Or do you think it’s the other way, do improvements in technology drive solutions to problems?
References
- Strickland, J. (2010) “Do wars drive technological advancement?”.HowStuffWorks.com. <https://science.howstuffworks.com/war-drive-technological-advancement.htm> 8 March 2018
- Martin, B. (1983). Science and war. Science Research in Australia, 101-108.
- Balch, E. G., & Mott, J. R. (1948, April 7). Emily Greene Balch – Nobel Lecture. Retrieved April 02, 2018, from https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1946/balch-lecture.html
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