Hello everyone. Today I want to hear YOUR thoughts about the issue I want to lift up here. Recently I’ve heard an opinion that seduced my brain to think quite hard. It is was said, that the main reason why inequality among people (generations, continents etc) constantly growths is a technological progress. It is not the only reason, but the fact is technological development with each new breakthrough deepens the void between rich and poor.
I never thought about it before, but from the first sight it makes perfect sense, don’t You think? Great industrial revolution of 17th-18th century made people, who were actually involved in it, reacher. In comparison with people who were not affected by the revulsion, participants could effort additional meals, accommodation ever since. Therefore, the abyss of inequality extended significantly. With each technological breakthrough people with immediate and permanent access to each gain the most from it, whereas inhabitants of remote regions still keep up. Paraphrasing Pareto rules, if some fraction of population gains value while the rest do not lose value, then the whole society is better off. However the growing inequality thanks to technology concerns me and causes doubts about the true “better off” for society.
I believe the topic is so complex and we can have good discussion on it 🙂
So, dear readers, I have my opinion, yet I eager to know Your opinion on consequent matters:
- Does the technological breakthroughs cause inequality among us?
- If yes, is there any chance to mitigate the weak access to new technology for all of us?
In my opinion technological progress is a very important factor of development and countries which take part in that can gain a lot. However, to answer your second question, I am not that sure that technological progress is a recipe for success for everyone. Some countries do not take part in that and they are quite alright this way, e.g. citizens of Bhutan are considered to be the happiest people in the world. If we talk about helping poorer countries by giving them easy access to new technology, we would have to specify what region/continent/country we are talking about.
True. But don’t u think when measuring the happiness, the opinion of people has to be only one out on plenty things to consider? I mean Bhutan think they are happy because only 5 out of ten infants survive 1 year threshold. But what if we show them^ that number may be 10 out of ten? That’s out of topic, but still…
I believe in that in some aspects it does cause inequality. However on the other hand once technology is developed with some time it becomes cheaper and more accessible for everyone. They might not be the first ones to obtain it but they do profit later when cheaper substitutes arrive. With regards to your second question I believe it will take time to mitigate this gap. However it is already happening for example with google trying to establish “net neutrality” in India and other developing countries.
That what I actually think! Maybe in a short run it causes inequality, but in a long run it brings development for all of human beings
IMHO, technological advancement plays a CRUCIAL role in bringing everyone to the same page, well slowly but steadily. Right now we are in a stage where we are still contemplating on if it’s good or bad but I’m sure in the blink of an eye we will realize that it is much more powerful than the industrial age in shaping the humanity’s future. It is helping millions of people get access to resources through non governmental means. Because of the internet, today a lot of us are able to contribute much more towards solving global issues than it was possible before. It is a key factor for enabling globalization which has a great potential to bring people closer to help each other out. I for one, have witnessed the economic boom in my city during late 90s and early 2000s. Education is a lot easier to access, it is a lot easier now for people from first world countries to travel to third world countries to help, cultural differences are more widely accepted and understood now than before which helps people become closer, technology solves a lot of long standing problems. It has a lot of power and potential to do hell lot of good to everyone, it’s just up to us how we use it.
Agree!
As an example of how technology can help us fight various issues, I found this gem http://www.brobible.com/life/article/anonymous-daesh-isis-accounts/
Ok probably that was a bit out of topic but anyway, can’t delete the comment now 😛
ahahah