Technological Evolution - Poor Outlook on Health.

            Technologies developed in the 21^st Century, as mentioned in The Second Machine Age - our last piece of reading material for this semester, maximize the output that is created from companies and factories while keeping the same input. Thus, technologies increase the productivity and gains of the company by speeding up production and keeping things cost effective. By demonstrating the fast growth of technologies, their new capabilities, and their future potential, the authors warn the readers about the ill effects of technology, mainly machines replacing humans in the workplace and the ever-increasing spread between social classes which is created by technology. What the book does not mention are the negative health effects that technologies today, and of the future, have on people. Similarly to the authors in the book, I will present the causes and effects of current and future technology and give proposed solutions and recommendations to amend the situation. While the authors focused on job displacement and society, I will focus on health.

            In the article “As Technology Gets Better, Will Society Get Worse?” by Tim Wu of The New York Time, technology is presented as a type of evolution. Biological evolution, the natural selection process, has always been viewed with success. We, as people, are confident that biological evolution has helped us gain immunity against diseases, allowed us to develop our brains - which led to language, complex thought and problem solving, and helped us survive as a species. However, although biological evolution is essential, it is much slower than technological evolution in changing the way we live. The many technological advances such as cellphones, televisions and internet have had a great impact on our health, much greater than that of biological changes.

            In order to show the effects that technology has on health, Wu mentions the Oji-Cree, a group of people that live in an isolated area south of the Hudson Bay. In the 20^th Century, the Oji-Cree used little technological advances in their daily tasks. They used dog sleds and canoes for transportation, hunted their own food, and generally had a tough life with much physical strain. The hard life they lived helped them stay healthy and kept them away from mental breakdowns and substance abuse. However, with the introduction of technologies such as trucks and snowmobiles, the Oji-Cree was now able to import their food and cease their travel through old technologies. These new technologies lead to a decrease in exercise and an increase in consumption of television programming, sweets and alcohol. As a consequence, the people of the Oji-Cree suffered health problems such as increases in obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. They also faced social problems such as alcoholism, suicide, and drug addiction.

            The story of the Oji-Cree brings about problems – negative health impacts due to technology - not discussed in The Second Machine Age. Thus, solutions must be discussed so that future technologies will decrease the problems rather than increase them. Some of my recommendations would be to refuse or limit the technologies that will foster lack of movement or exercise – such as robots that are programmed to bring you things, make technology that will encourage exercise – such as physical trainer robots, and foster technology that value their users’ health by notifying them of the negative health effects it may have on their health. By enacting these, and any other, positive recommendations into the design process of future technology and the laws directing the technological regulations, people of the future will be healthier because of technology, as opposed to our current situation.