Is Technology Transcending Humanity?

Many people assume that when on the internet for a long amount of time were either wasting time doing nothing or were getting addicted to it making humanity stupider. But I believe that to be wrong and I say this because whenever someone goes to use technology its always to gain something/it is always improving the human itself. Now whether that be to escape boredom or finding answers to homework or searching up local news to see what is happening around you, you are doing something that makes the body work to get it. You could almost say it is the same as doing Projects for whatever you are doing. You must move your body, use your brain, your eyes, everything, to get what you are doing finished. Now while some people still will not agree with this and say that technology cannot transcend humans, I ask this; If technology cannot transcend humans to where they are today with learning, working, building, etc…? Then what can because I cannot see anything else, technology has provided us with resources, tools, and information all at our fingertips for us to use as we desire.

Now, Technology over the years has helped humans in going beyond their limits and one of the ways it has helped with that is the tools that come with technology. I am not just talking about like phones, computers, video games, tv’s etc…, no think more outside the box. Technology has given us ways to communicate, the printing press, a compass, paper currency, steel, the steam engine, transistors, and even more. For example, with communication we got the telephone, “in 1849, the telephone was invented and within 50 years it was an essential item for homes and offices, but tethering impacted the flexibility and privacy of the device. Then, came the mobile phone. In 1973, Motorola created a mobile phone which kick-started a chain of developments that transformed communication forever.” But this was just the start, we then got what we use nowadays like the smartphones, iPhone, Samsung, and even more. Now how did this transcend humanity further, well it gave them the ability to communicate from two vastly different areas at an accelerating pace, instead of having to wait to get a letter that could take, a week, a month depending on how far or close you were to that other person you were sending to. If we did not have the communication technology we have today, it would slow down how fast humanity is evolving. Imagine having to send a letter to your boss having all the context of your presentation, that you must show in the next couple of days, it is possible but with the advancements in communication its easy. Another example that shows technology helping the humans advance through tools would be the transistor. “The transistor is an essential component in nearly every modern electronic gadget. First developed in late 1947 by Bell Laboratories, these tiny semiconductor devices allow for precise control of the amount and flow of current through circuit boards.” This is more towards the helping of other technologies but it helping those helped us go towards the future. So, it is not directly helping us but like the radios, or like every circuit board ever, cellphones, and even computers. If we never created the transistor that would set us back as well because that is what allows us to use some of these objects that help in our daily lives. Now I am not saying it is impossible to live without it I am just saying it would be harder because all the things that it is in will always give a boost to the progressing humanity.

Another way though that technology has helped in progressing humanity itself is the resources we got from technology. Now, I am not saying we were just given resources from technology but the resources we gained from the progression of technology itself. We had the oil refinery which gave us oil, mining which opens a new path to multiple ores including gold, iron, uranium, and we got energy which was harnessed from creations from technology. A good example of these resources that we gained helping us would be the oil refinery and this is because “An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is transformed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, jet fuel and fuel oils.” So, this not only transcended humanity further but it also sent technology further, it is like 2 birds with 1 stone. But to be honest its more on the Humanity side because it gave the resources to humans and technology yes but, technology is created as we go on, so the resources had to be formed into those technologies. Another one of the examples for this would-be Power, but this is more based on my opinion because I believe if we did not create something that could make power, we would be left with nothing except like fire and other stone age things like in “The Flintstones”. Imagine this, if we did not create the steam engine, the very first power creators we would be like “The Flintstones”, and the progression for humanity would have stopped but not completely if that makes sense. Like humans would still progress but at a way slower pace, than what were at now. But the reason we were progressing at the speed we are now is because “it was the significant adaptations of Thomas Newcomen and James Watt in the mid 1700s that gave birth to the modern steam engine, opening up a world of possibility. A single steam engine, powered by coal dug from the mines of England and Appalachia, could do the work of dozens of horses.” So not only was its technology which is what most of this was revolving around but it was because of the prodigies of people we had back then, that could just pop technology up into thin air with a snap of their fingers.

Last, but not least we have the information that we gained from technology to progress humans further. Now this one is a little hazy because you could technically say that technology is information in and of itself, but I am talking about the info we gain from using it to transcend us. Like there are many historical figures that prove this theory of mine like, The Wright Brothers, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, William Sturgeon and more etc…, But what I am trying to get at is that the information they got with the technology around them helped them progress to who they are today but also to what humans are nowadays. So, for the first example I’m going to use Thomas Edison and there is a reason to this and that is because “Edison was the quintessential American inventor in the era of Yankee ingenuity. He began his career in 1863, in the adolescence of the telegraph industry, when virtually the only source of electricity was primitive batteries putting out a low-voltage current. Before he died, in 1931, he had played a critical role in introducing the modern age of electricity.” Now the reason I mention this is because this is what he is known for, but I also bring it up because his knowledge and what he did with it progressed humanity further. The fact that he was able to produce all these different ideas without using the technology that we have nowadays, shows that the right info can in-fact transcend us, just like it did to him. The second person or people I use as an example of this is the Wright Brothers. Now, I chose these two cause their reason is slightly different because rather than introducing modern age electricity like Edison they in fact were “inventors, and aviation pioneers who achieved the first powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight (1903).” They used info from the technology around them to create the first airplane, which then allowed us to create what we use today like Boeing 737, or the f 22 raptor. they gave us more info into the skies using the technology they had, which progressed us further if that makes sense in certain point of views. I say this also because I know some of the inventions today with technology require a lot more things and not just these people, but they are some of the main factors when it comes to the info towards this.

Now I have realized that info, resources, and tools are not the only things that allow technology to transcend humanity further. But I believe that these three are the top three out of everything because these three things work together in a way to help us progress. First is the info that we get around us, next we would get the resources we saw that we needed from the info gathered and finally you have the tools. Now the tools can go two ways it can either count as a third out of fourth step or it is the last step of creation which helps us to progress in creating newer things. But it just depends on your point of view over all of this to be honest.