Contemporary Technology and the Modern Human
Technology as we know it conventionally, which is the practical application of scientific knowledge for industrial operations which fulfill human needs, is as old as humanity. For instance, in Yoruba cosmology, there is the story of Obatala, the King of all Yoruba deities who was charged by Olodumare (Almighty God) with the sole responsibility of designing and sculpting human figures before Olodumare could breathe life into them. Moreover, there was also Sokoti Alagbede Orun (Sokoti the Blacksmith of Heaven), who was contracted to forge the golden chain with which Obatala descended from heaven to earth. It is stated that Ogun, the Yoruba deity of metallurgy learned his deft skills at the bellows of Sokoti’s smith shop.
Similarly, in Greek mythology, Hephaestus is said to be the blacksmith of all Greek gods. He was a god-master in the arts of stonemasonry, metalwork, and sculpture. Moreover, Hephaestus was the one — according to the Classical Greek literary work Prometheus Bound — compelled by Kratos (Might) and Bia (Violence) to mete out severe punishment on Prometheus for stealing fire from the gods at Mount Olympus and bequeathing it to humans. As a result of his rebellious act which benefited humankind, Prometheus is duly recognized as a symbol of scientific and technological advancement. His name appears on the periodic table of chemical elements (Promethium) and his giant statue adorns the western end of Sunken Plaza at the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Besides, on the granite wall placed behind his sculpture reads the inscription: “Prometheus, a teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends.”
Defining Technology
Technology has been defined in different ways across the different industrial revolutions the human world has experienced. The First Industrial Revolution, for instance, is defined as “the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing.” This definition flows directly from the fact that it was the First Industrial revolution that heralded innovations like the spinning jenny and the use of new energy sources like petroleum and coal. The First Industrial Revolution essentially increased the application of science to industrial endeavors.
However, now that the world is at the Fourth stage of the Industrial Revolution, the definition of technology has changed drastically. When we think of technology nowadays, we tend to conceptualize it in the purview of the things Thomas Friedman said in his phenomenal book, The World is Flat:
“Infosys, he said, can hold a virtual meeting of the key players from its entire global supply chain for any project at any time from that supersize screen. So, their American designers could be on the screen speaking with their Indian software writers and their Asian manufacturers all at once.” (2005, pg. 6)
The 4IR is unlike anything the world has witnessed. Its massive wave is sweeping across the globe with tremendous alacrity. With the emergence of groundbreaking systems like robots, self-driving vehicles, cloud computing, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence, the 4IR is disrupting all facets of human life and significantly changing the world as we used to know it.
Now, billions of people across different continents of the world can stay connected digitally and share an unprecedented amount of information through their portable mobile devices. The massive explosion and democratization of information prompted by the digital wireless connection between and among humans and machines is the defining hallmark of this era.
Moreover, information technology which is the driving force of modern technology has merged the political, cultural and economic systems of the modern world into a holistic interconnected metwork as exemplified by the Communication Technology Ecosystem.
Public Communication Technology?
Given the fact that information technology has become the essential core of modern civilization, the contemporary definition of technology has then shifted from a focus on “scientific knowledge” and “industrial purposes” to an emphasis on “communication technology” which according to Rogers (1986, pg. 2) means “ the hardware equipment, organizational structures, and social values by which individuals collect, process, and exchange information with other individuals.” More so, a thorough and exhaustive understanding of Public Communication Technologies has also become exceedingly important.
Drawing from Rogers’ definition of communication technology above, I, therefore, attempt to define public communication technology more broadly.
First, I will describe each component — public, communication and technology — separately. To start with, I define public simply as the 7.8 billion people who walk the earth’s surface coupled with the social, political and economic structures we have built to oversee our affairs. Examples of public in this sense might include human beings, governments, and business corporations.
Furthermore, I describe communication as the process of information transfer between different people and structures across and beyond different geographical, social or cultural boundaries. News, books, jokes, memes, criminal records, stories, historical details, press releases, verbal and non-verbal cues are all examples of communication.
Also, I refer to technology as the skills, tools, and platforms that people employ to process and exchange information. Some examples of technology will, therefore, include press conferences, presidential chats, debates, social media sites, modes of dressing (peacocking, black dress as a sign of mourning), post office boxes, satellites, cloud servers, personal computers, mobile phones, software applications, billboards, whiteboards, museums, libraries, and notice boards.
Finally, I will wholly conceptualize public communication technology as the processes, skills, and platforms that individuals or groups of people deploy to transfer and store information.
Communication Technology and the Modern Human
An explication like this will be incomplete without exploring the relationship between human beings of the 21st century and modern technology. The magic of the fourth industrial revolution has made portable devices an extension and clone of human beings. Modern human beings can hardly survive without the internet and its attendant components like mobile phones or Alexa.
While human beings previously relied on technology for executing industrial tasks, modern human beings depend on technology for our industrial, personal and psychological tasks and gratifications. Contemporary technology shapes our expectations and defines our sense of self (especially social media).
Though we believe that contemporary technologies like personal computers, robots, virtual assistants, smartphones and autonomous vehicles will save us time and conserve our energy so we can dedicate more time for leisure, rest and bond with family and friends, these gadgets, however, do the very opposite. Contemporary digital devices blur the line between our private and professional lives, pull us farther away from our loved ones and put us in a state of perpetual emotional stress. More broadly, the use or disuse of technology has also become a vibrant tool that oppressive governments, unconscientious corporations, and individuals with sinister motives exploit to inflict pain on people and to suppress their natural rights.
“It is ironic that in a culture so committed to saving time, we feel increasingly deprived of the very thing we value.” - Jeremy Rifkin
It appears that modern humans have become oblivious to the fact that technology was created by humans and can never be smarter than humans. Contemporary technology is a tool in our hands and will go in the direction we lead it. Therefore, if technology will serve its original purpose of helping us realize our full potentials individually and collectively, we have to radically reconceptualize and repair our flawed perspectives about technology whilst also placing humane values and ethics at the center of our relationship with it.
Sources
Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals (2018), A. E. Grant and Jennifer H. Meadows
The World Is Flat (2005), Thomas L. Friedman
Prometheus Bound (430 B. C.), Aeschylus
