Technology - Boon or Bane

Technology is the way we apply scientific knowledge for practical purposes. We all are in the era of technological growth. Technology makes life easier and more comfortable by reducing human effort waste of time. It is having influence in each and every sector such as education, research, agriculture, administration, business, defence, entertainment fashion and many more.

From the wrist watch that we wear to the cars we drive, every single thing is digitized. Due to technology disabled people are no more disabled. Recently, brail which works on electronic pulses have been invented. Artificial foot, smart sticks, hearing aids and what not is invented.

Then where does the problem arises. According to science fiction luminary Sir Isaac Asimov - "The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than the society gathers wisdom ". This means that vast amount of information is constantly at our fingertips, yet it seems we still lack the wisdom to healthily limit our dependence on technology, not just for our own sake, but also for the health of our society and environment.

Technology actually holds enormous potential for improving our daily lives, from strengthening relationships to exposing us to alternative viewpoints.

But excess use of technology makes us impatient. We want all answers within minutes. We are losing power of patience and tolerance. It affects our memory also. Our mind recognizes that the information is being stored elsewhere, so we find it less important to remember it. So we stop dedicating the mental resources to remember it.

We all are familiar with a very old saying that "We learn from our mistakes" . But now there is no scope left for mistakes to happen. With the help of google, we get correct solution of every problem, we get exact answer of every question. So there is no question of doing any mistake. Then how will we learn. Students must give thought to it.

While working on this topic, I came across an interview by Mr Agam Jain, an IPS. According to him, laptops, mobiles, internet are not distraction as far as we know our limits. He said that when his prelims were very near, he watched videos related to topic, to get gist of it. During preparation, his mother used to call him and tell him not to worry. Those words by mother used to relax him. But there were many aspirants chatting about useless matters with friends. So, it's we only who make technology a boon or a bane.

He says that he used to sit at 10 am, practiced answer writing, read current affairs material and switched off internet at  11 am. But there were few who used you-tube endlessly for listening music. So, again it's we who has to make technology a boon or bane.

Technology is boon as long as it is our slave. It's when we let it become a master that it becomes a bane.

So, the crux is use technology judiciously. Toppers are not from Mars, and neither do they abandon these things. They just make better use out of it. We must learn to limit ourselves.