Imagine traveling back to a time about three million years ago when human-made technologies first appeared. While it already exists, it’s certainly not as mature as it is now.
Who is responsible for stone tools? Yes, you are right! According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the first man-made technologies were stone tools used for survival, my friend. Well, the tool was the beginning of the development of technology until today.
Imagine, from what used to be just stone tools, we can now enjoy technologies from different fields. For example, in the transport sector, as reported by Bisnis (2022), China already has the fastest train in the world, which can cover a distance of 30 kilometers in just seven and a half minutes. So nifty, right?
technology in our lives. For this reason, on this occasion, I will speak about the importance of technology in three different areas, namely communication and information, education, and medicine.
Come on, read on to get the info!
What is a technology and how did it come about?
Before I go into the meaning of technology, I will first explain what technology is.
Introducing Tempo (2019), Indonesia’s third president and world leader in aerospace technology, B.J. Habibie said that technology, like philosophy, is the result of thought, work, and creation of human resources.
Then why did humans create technology?
The answer lies in the KBBI definition, which defines technology as a tool to maintain the continuity and comfort of human life, my friend. So there is a human need that requires the innovations of these tools.
For example, people need fire for cooking, then the hearth appeared. That’s not all, there are now also ovens or microwaves with more specific cooking functions.
The development of technology itself is inseparable from the progress of science in the world, my friend. If you want to know how technology has developed from century to century in the same way as science has developed, you can read the article on World Science Day – History and Development of Science.
The importance of information and communication technology
As reported by the Fisipol study program of Medan Area University (2020), technological developments in the field of information and communication are very important to share information and build relationships more easily.
An example of technology in this area is television (TV). Before there was television, you could only read the news in the newspaper or hear it on the radio. However, with the boom in television purchases in the 1900s, many people could watch live broadcasts of an event on their television screen without being limited by distance.
The not only news, nowadays we can watch many entertainment or educational programs in the form of videos on TV. If you have a business, you can also advertise your business on TV.
In addition to television, social media is also booming. According to the Statista report, in January 2021 alone, Indonesia ranked 3rd among the most active social media users in the Asia Pacific with 170 million users, you know.
Information is much easier to obtain on social media than on television. Likewise with long-distance communication.
Currently, we can make video calls through social media like WhatsApp, Line, and Instagram. So you can see live the faces of the people you miss even though they are far away.
In fact, according to a report by NBC News in 2018, research has been done in Malaysia on how to digitally transmit smells that can be applied in long-distance communications, you know.
Well, perhaps shortly, long-distance communication will not just consist of asking how they are, chatting, looking them in the face, or guiding them to sleep, a.k.a. just a sleep call. hehe. However, you and Doi will be able to share the same experience despite being separated by two continents by smelling the same scent.
The importance of technology in education
Imagine if there was no technology to support online learning during this Covid-19 pandemic. Wow, a person’s learning loss or loss of ability to learn may not happen again, it happens.
Fortunately, with today’s development of digital technology, you can access various educational support platforms online.
An example of a digital platform that is widely used in this era of distance learning is Google Classroom. Through this platform, you can access and collect the teacher’s materials, learning media, and assignments more easily. Teachers can also give you feedback and ratings directly and faster.
The benefits of helping to improve the learning process are noticeable for students and were also proven in a study conducted by Izwan Nizal Mohd Shaharanee and his friends from the University of North Malaysia in 2016.
For independent and fun learning, you can also watch tutorial videos via YouTube, mate. You must have used this web platform that provides different types of videos many times, right?
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2018, 51% of YouTube users in America are learning how to do something through the platform that has never been done before. So you really can use YouTube to support your learning at school, mate.
The importance of technology in the medical field
Like Gandhi’s words above, I’m sure you don’t want anyone to be sick either. Also, diseases have a higher risk of death than other diseases, such as Covid-19. But what if the risk of transmission is high?
This is where science and technology play a role in improving the treatment and prevention of increasingly serious diseases, my friend. An example is the production of a COVID-19 vaccine.
As reported by the World Health Organization (2021), vaccines serve to prepare the body for dangerous diseases by boosting the immune system’s defenses. So if you have been vaccinated, your immune system will be stronger when you are infected with the Covid-19 virus.
If you are curious about how vaccines work in the body, you can read How Vaccines Save Millions of Human Lives article.
Now, with today’s advances in science and laboratory technologies, vaccine production can be done faster, my friend. For example, the discovery of the dose of “two tablespoons of cells for a billion doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine” was found by Carina Joe, an Indonesian scientist working with her team in Oxford, England.
The discovery of a Covid-19 vaccine was also much faster than traditional vaccine manufacture, which takes up to 15 years, according to a Nature (2020) report.
According to data from JHU CSSE Covid-19 Data, this virus is in the world for more than a year, on March 3rd, 2022 alone, the fatality rate for Covid-19 is still 254 cases in Indonesia, mate. Imagine if there was no vaccine the death rate would be much higher.
Conclude
After reading this article, you will gain more insight into the importance of technology in the fields of information and communication, education and health, as well as information related to technology examples in each of these fields.
I hope you will appreciate the technology you can enjoy today, using it more wisely for your progress, mate.
That’s all from me until the next article!