How Has Technology Benefited Society?
Technology has benefited society in many ways, perhaps most notably in the areas of health care, education and communication. It has also revolutionized entertainment, political engagement and productivity.
In health care, medical technologies very frequently stand between life and death. Those people at high risk of cardiac arrest, for instance, can be fitted with technological implants to dramatically improve their chances of survival from an approximately 5 percent likelihood to 98 percent. Certain technologies also allow for many surgical procedures to be less invasive, significantly reducing a patient’s expected recovery time.
It is also much easier for patients to inform or even diagnose themselves with the aid of technology, by either researching symptoms on the Internet or breathing into bedside devices that detect lung disease.
The digitization of books has greatly benefited education by expanding the range of texts that students have access to. Online courses, often using technologies such as webcams for face-to-face tuition, have made education itself more accessible to a wide range of people.
Rapid communication is made possible by technologies such as cell phones and the Internet, which in turn improves productivity. Communications technologies such as the Internet also allow politicians to reach a greater number of people, and for people to voice their opinions to a greater range of their peers.
