Technology has allowed us to change the Earth, take the many things that it has given us and use them to our own means. Economies of civilizations new and old, alive and dead, have shaped not only the way we interact with the world around us, but with each other. Both are key aspects in defining who we are as a whole, defining what humanity is. But how do these two concepts interact, where do they meet, and where do they part?
How do changes in an economy affect technology? Industry, and through it, the economy, is often a driving force behind technological development. Technology is often developed to fulfill a need or a want. This concept can be tied directly into the economic foundation of supply and demand. A good example would be the internet, which is a technology developed for the exchange of a huge variety of things. The internet was developed out of several wants from several different communities. DARPA designed the ARPAnet in America because there was a huge desire for faster knowledge transfer. The Rand Corporation of America created the concept of a military information network. The National Physics Library in England developed a commercial network, the NPL network. In France, the Institut de Recherche d’ Informatique et d’ Automatique developed the scientific network, Cyclades. These various approaches, from around the world, were the building blocks of the internet as we know it ("History of the Internet"). The idea for these things all came from desire, all of them at least partially economic. What is interesting in this particular example is that from economic needs, technology developed a whole new economy. Economy is defined as “a system of interaction and exchange,” and that is exactly what the internet has become, which leads me to the opposite question(Merriam-Webster).
How do changes and advances in technology affect economies? The complexity of this subject is astronomical. In an attempt to simplify, technology changes what economic historian Joel Mokyr termed “production potential.”(Mokyr) By this I think he means that newer technology doesn’t change the economy of a society, but changes what it can be. Advancing technology can change the boundaries and constraints, and therefore the potential, of their economic prosperity. For instance, farming technology like tractors and harvesters allow the farmer to potentially increase his production, though if he chooses to not use them or chooses to use them less then he could, he might not reach that potential. The other way new technology can affect an economy is by being what is being exchanged. Many societies have made use of their technological advantages. For a long time, only China knew the secrets to creating silk, and thus became the sole producer of silk, gaining a lot of wealth from Europe. At other times, newer technology has negatively affected different communities. Take for instance the Luddites, a group of skilled workers in the textile industry in 1811 Britain. They were threatened with being replaced with machines operated by unskilled workers and women, which produced cheaper, though inferior, goods. These new machines droves down their wages, and in anger, they began a six year war against the machines, destroying their frames or their inner workings (Binfield). Another, more modern example of this would be in the automotive industry. Years ago, new technologies like the assembly line and replaceable parts gave many factory workers good jobs. In the present, those same workers are unemployed because of, again, new technology, being laid off and replaced with machines.
By no means do I intend to infer that technology is the only factor in economic growth, or vice versa. Both of these subjects have layers of complexity far beyond my comprehension. They depend on each other, but it is impossible to explain all the near infinite way they do so. The relationships between technology and economies are as hard to define as they are to deny, and the complex web that they weave when looking at the bigger picture is simultaneously awe-inspiring and horrifying. In some ways they act as their very own economy, economy demanding from technology, and technology supplying the potential for the economy to grow. The two have never or will ever be separated completely; they are fundamentally part of humanity, and we will always be both the pawns of, and drivers of, this complex relationship.
Works Cited
((Sorry for the ugliness, blogger had some trouble with the links....'<'s and '>'s freaked it out))
Binfield, Kevin. "Murray State Faculty Pages." Luddites and Luddism: History. John Hopkins
University Press, 2004. Web. 30 Mar 2010.
http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/kevin.binfield/luddites/LudditeHistory.htm
"economy." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 30 Mar 2010
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/economy
"History of the Internet." Web. 2 Apr 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hIQjrMHTv4
Mokyr, Joel. The Lever of Riches. Oxford University Press, USA, 1990. Print.
Rogers, J. D. "Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information." The Impact of Technology on the Economy. Department of Energy, n.d. Web. 18 Mar 2010.
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/purl.cover.jsp;jsessionid=1CD67FAFCDD31C5EE762C5FA7527A0CD?purl=/39688-bUVrBN/webviewable/
I fully agree that technology, and specifically the internet is basically what our economy revolves around. Without it we could not function financially because we no longer live in a physical world of bills and coins, and additionally, so many people would be without jobs because of the many opportunities it gives people. It's amazing how it's been such an iatrical part of our economy, and in a lot of ways really helped it.
ReplyDeleteI remember something about war and technology from somewhere (sorry I forget the source). Basically, when the need is great enough, such as during a major wartime, production of technology and advances in its fields will sky rocket. It's, as you say, simply the needs of the consumer have changed. In this case, the consumer would be the Army.
ReplyDeleteI like how you say the economy and technology will always be linked in some way. I'd agree with the as technology is a vast amount of different things and when the technology is improved upon there is always an economic benefit from the person or company that improved it. Today a lot of technology is simply improving older technology, but there is still some new stuff coming out. Good write up!
ReplyDeleteI agree with bot you and Hilary on the bases that technology goes hand in hand with our economy, but a lot of basic jobs have been stolen by technology. The simple jobs that the basic 'highschool graduate' filled is now taken over by a computer or robot like technology, leaving the basic-educated people jobless. Not only are there less jobs, it makes it near impossible to get a good job without going to college.
ReplyDeleteSociety is basically reliant on the internet and todays technology. As technology is advancing, soon there will be no need for human labor because they will have computer robots and different types of technology filling in those spots. Things are evolving to where everything is electronic and its interesting to see how much worse its going to get in 40 years.
ReplyDelete@Emily the thing is who will make those robots and service them when they need repairs? Who is going to program them? There will always be a need for human labor in one form or another. Eventually all jobs will require a college degree and as more people are required to have Bachelors then it will mean less and then more people will get their Master's, PHD and then some form of even higher education will be invented and people may end up in school for the majority of their lives. That would leave less people to do the few jobs that are left and hopefully it will balance out.
ReplyDeleteI agree how everything is entwined together with the economy and technology. Like our discussion in class, if hypothetically the internet was to go down the economy would be in pretty rough shape considering how reliant everything is in the internet.
ReplyDeleteI agree that technology and the economy are both linked together. Without the advancement in technology, production wouldn't be as fast as today. With the amount of people living on this planet, there's a high supply and demand of things like food, and that's where the technology comes in. It takes up less time to produce something and more goods are distributed.
ReplyDeleteThis post made me wonder if there is any current example of a group that has sole knowledge of how a product is made, thus being the sole producer. While I know little to nothing about technology, I know that while there are many products out there similar to an iphone, the fact that ATT was the only provider of the specific product cause a lot of people to switch service providers. I wonder what would happen if for example one company had sole ownership of the internet?
ReplyDeleteWe humans have a really high dependency on technology. Which is not a bad thing, but, as we were discussing in class the other day, what if we suddenly didn't have that technology anymore? I believe we are not at the point where people would not be able to cope. However, it would be extremely tough. Prices for food would skyrocket, because there would be little technology to harvest food as easily as we do now. I am hoping that our society does not end up like "Pay For The Printer" by P.K. Dick, ever, because people were literally dumbfounded by the wooden cup that someone actually made himself. If we are ever that dependent on technology, or any one thing, I think that will be our downfall.
ReplyDeleteThe history of the internet....started with Netscape for me...through dial-up given to residents of Vermont free through the State of Vermont Library....and then as a paid dial-up service...oh those beautiful dial-tone melodies, they will ring in my ears forever.
ReplyDeleteI agree that technology and the economy go hand in hand. Basically in every business class I have taken we link the two together because they rely on one another. With all the people living on this earth there is a high demand for products, food, service, ect we would not be able to do this as well without the advanced technology that we have now. I cannot imagine how it will be in the future.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! The internet has contributed greatly to our economy as a whole. Look at our education its being moved online which is simply setting up a foundation for online transactions.
ReplyDeleteI think that you wrote a very interesting piece, and I will admit that I have never really thought about how dependent our economy is on technology. The Internet is not the only technology that we have to worry about. What if we lost a technology that was so basic we take advantage of it on a daily basis. I feel safe in assuming that most of us do not even think of the farming technology that helped produce the food we buy at the grocery store. So what if we did loose that technology? Or what if we lost a technology such as rubber? There are certain things that our economy relies on that we take so much advantage of that we forget to realize how important it is.
ReplyDeleteYou make an excellent point on how dependent our economy is on technology. I believe that as a society we tend to forget how absolutely dependent we have become on certain basic levels of technology until they are taken away from us. For example without our current level of farming technology we could not support the population that we currently possess because there would simply not be enough food to go around. Technology is so tied to our daily lives and the welfare of our economy I believe that people need to begin to pay attention and your article really brought it to light.
ReplyDeleteI think this is true, American society would collapse without our current technology. I think it was mentioned, that in countries where they don't have technology, would be affected very little by a collapse. While we could live without technology the supply and demand process would cause massive amounts of starvation, and other national issues. While some people would live, a massive amount of the population would die due to lack of goods.
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious that some technology is needed to develop a stronger economy because if you look at some third world countries with no technology advances in the last decades or centuries even, their standards of living are much lower. It just makes it clear you cannot have one without the other.
ReplyDeleteIt has always fascinated me how the current technology in production seems to match the economic state we are in. I think it might be interesting if someone set up some sort of chart that compares and contrasts technology depending on the state of the economy and perhaps whether it is a time of war or it is relatively peaceful. Maybe I'll check the internet for something like that, after all, the internet is probably one of my favorite pieces of technology to date.
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