DAY 60 – KEY ASPECT: TECHNOLOGY CHANGES THE WORLD

I am looking at a picture of my great grandmother standing in front of a car when she was fourteen years old. You can only see a few feet of the front of the car and cannot make out what type of model it was. Since she was born in 1908 this car has to be one from the early stages of mass produced cars.

The technological revolution that began in the early part of the twentieth century could be seen as the revolution that opened up the human world to a vastness of possibilities. No longer would people be bound to where they were born. They could more easily travel to far off places. They could receive products more easily made somewhere else. This was the real beginning to having more than just the life they were born into.

Fast forward one hundred years and not only have cars advanced in their capabilities but advancements in technology have transformed the human world in profound ways. Technological advancements in the form of vertical farming is now possible and could someday enable all of humanity to feed ourselves without any disruptions and do it in a clean and environmentally sustainable manner. Alternative forms of energy in the coming decades could give humanity an endless supply of clean energy right at our fingertips. Because of the mapping of the human genome research has been taking place to uncover which specific cells are responsible for certain illnesses and diseases thereby leading to further research that may someday prevent and cure most, if not all, diseases. Not only are more of us living into our eighties, nineties and past one hundred but we are also living our lives with better health.

While the twentieth century gave us many products that made life easier for more people than ever before, the twenty-first century with the technological inventions of the internet and iphone may someday be most known for humanity coming together in ways never before thought possible. The internet gives us the ability to attain the knowledge we can use in transforming our world for the better while the iphone with text messaging allows us to instantly share information, unite people around worthy causes and take the necessary actions that make life less burdensome. We do have the capability to make this the last century for most human problems.

While looking at the picture of my great grandmother standing by that car I now realize that transformative technological advancements continually make life easier and better for people around the planet. Unfortunately, not every human being is able to take advantage of those breakthroughs. Humanity today can change that. Human beings today can take the insights and knowledge that will create a better world and use it in ways like no other generation ever did.