MODULE 7

When Technology and Humanity

Cross
 Introduction
• Technology started as human civilization
develop tools necessary for their survival.
• Defined as the application of scientific
knowledge on different process that aids in
making life convenient and easier.
• Despite the good intentions of technological
development and advancement, there are
advantages and as well as disadvantages.
 Learning Objectives

Explain the relationship between technology

and society.
1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of modern technology.
2. Relate human rights and the emerging
technological dilemmas.
Technology and its Importance to Human Society

Technology
• practical application of scientific knowledge
• used mainly in industrial production
• has practical impact in the communities, in
agriculture, health, education & transportation
• started as human develop tools associated
with survival and evolution.
Technology and its Importance to Human Society

• Today’s society is very different from the past.

• Life cannot be imagine without it as it brings
ease and comfort into our lives.
• Present generations possess characteristics
such as willingness to transformation, and
• the desire to transmit & dominate information.
 Advantages of Modern Technology
1. Improved Communications
• easy access to information & social networking
• human communication evolved from spoken
words and stories 7 million years ago
• the use of Morse Code in 1836,
• the use of equipment like typewriter in 1867,
• online content communication in 2011.
• advance communication tools were invented
• faster & easier transmission of information
2. Improved Housing, Lifestyle and
Entertainment
• Sophisticated materials & techniques are
being used now to build modern houses.
• Automated equipment for home activities
and entertainment purposes.
• The use of Smart TV can now perform both
television and computer functions.
ALEXIA SMART HOME (Digital Home)
3. Convenience in Education
• Education is not limited to classroom setting.
• Distant education thru online learning (LMS)
• Web-based seminars (webinars),
• Serves as venues to reach almost every
corner of the world.
4. Convenience in Travel
• modern day public transport systems
• allows easy access of merchandise and
tourist to and from other countries
• countries invest more for the improvement
and efficiency of rail and airport systems.
5. Change in Health Industry
• structural change in the medical field
• introduction of more sophisticated
equipment for diagnosis and treatment
• discovery and development of new
treatment procedures and medicines.
6. Efficiency & Productivity
• provide different industries to increase
production (automated assembly line)
• reduce labor cost to meet the demand of
the growing society.
7. Initiates Creativity & Innovation
• allow entrepreneurs to start online business
• opening avenues for a more creative and
innovative approach
• enable business to operate while owner is
attending to other important activities.
 Disadvantages of Modern Technology
1. Job Loss & Human Displacement
• possible shift in economies that use human
labor as main work force.
• leads to redundant functions between
technologies and humans when companies
started to adopt new innovations.
• raised concern over the possibility of
massive job displacement.
2. World Destruction Weapons
• further development in machineries,
weaponry and armaments that caused
massive death among countries at war.
• includes drones, fly-by-wire technologies,
submarines, various missiles, and stealth
technology in aircrafts, space, and nuclear
weapons.
3. Increased Loneliness (among youths)
• caused physical and social isolation
• absence of interactive relationships
between family members and friends
• have limited physical interaction with the
outside world
• attention is focused on their gadgets and
rely mainly on the social technology
• makes them feel isolated leading to a
casual & unrewarding relationship.
4. Competency
• reduced human creativity and intelligence
• due to increased dependence on modern
tools and technologies that
• create innovations and changes in the
society.
 Ethical Dilemmas of Emerging Technology
1. Real-Time Satellite Surveillance Imagery
• cheaper price of acquiring new satellites
• smaller and more sophisticated
• record the status of entire Earth in real time.
• solve crimes and disaster risk reduction
• generate images are helpful in planning and
solving humanitarian problem.
 It can violate the privacy of human life if
these data would be used by wrong hands.
2. Colonizing Mars: An Astronaut Bioethics
• NASA & Mars One, a private company, are
working together to colonize the planet Mars.
• In 2018, Mars One is planning to launch a
robotic mission to Mars.
• By 2025, four humans will be sent on a one-way
mission with the goal of setting up a colony.
 A big breakthrough in the history of
mankind. But there is a need for risk
assessment.
3. Wearable Technology
• Companies around the globe have developed
several wearable technologies
• to suit human behavior & activities
• continues to develop and becomes a hit
• has beneficial functions in the field of education
and health.
 The problem is that capabilities of this
technology could expose the private
details of our lives.
4. State-Sponsored Hacktivism and Soft War
• unarmed force using cyber war and hacktivism
• with the aim of transforming cultural values and
identities of the society to achieve political goals
• Aside from influencing the social aspect of a
given political system, soft war also progresses
to cultural invasions & psychological operations.
 A big problem, the use of cyber attacks
to any government agency.
5. Enhance Pathogens
• Gains of function researches have beneficial
impacts such as understanding the virus and
the mode of treating such virus.
• This kind of research could also increase the
mammalian transmission and virulence which
outweigh its benefit.
 This could be potentially an avenue for
exposing the virus into the general
population that could have a devastating
effect.
6. Non-Lethal Weapons
• are designed not to kill but remained to be an
emerging ethical and political dilemma.
• Pepper Spray, Stun/Taser Gun, Laser Missiles,
blinding weapons, pain rays, sonic weapons,
electric weapons, heat rays, disabling
malodorants, gases and sprays
 Indiscriminate use could be a means for
torture, considered to be a force multiplier
when combined with lethal weapons.
7. Robot Swarms
• researchers focused on development of kilobots
• capable of communicating with each other
• perform simple task without human intervention
• inspired by the swarm behavior of social insects
• The Goal – to use them in environmental
cleanups or in responding to disasters.
 Risk – there is a tendency of this robots to
malfunction & cause harm & accidents.
8. Artificial Life Form (biological breakthrough)
• emerging science known as ‘synthetic biology’
• focused on custom-building of synthetic life form
• introduce synthetic DNA to an existing organism
• raises concern on the ethics and policy issues
• safety issues and risk factors are still connected
• possible release into our environment
 This may also be used in the development
of biological weapons in the future.
9. Resilient Social-Ecological Systems
• There is a need to build resilience in the social
and ecological systems of each nations.
• It is necessary in facing societal problems
brought about by poverty, economic
globalization, and natural phenomena such as
climate change and natural disasters.
 Delay in the implementation of government
could be disastrous to any nation.
10. Brain-to-Brain Interfaces
• researchers started experiments as of 2014.
• direct communication from one brain to another without
the use of speech
• using electroencephalography machine that detects
brain activity in the sender
• trans-cranial magnetic stimulation coil that controls
movement in the receiver
 Ethical issues arise which concerns the kind of neuro
security that can be used to prevent accidental sharing
or removal of information from an individual brain,
intellectual property rights & the liability between the
sender & receiver if one commits a mistake.
 The 4th Industrial Revolution (Information Age)

• is changing the way we live, work and

interact with one another.
• It also has the potential to both challenge and
uphold human rights.
• These modern and emerging technological
advancements for the common good should
not hinder any individuals from enjoying any
of the rights (stated in the)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 1 Right to Equality
Article 2 Freedom from Discrimination
Article 3 Right to Life, Liberty, Personal Security
Article 4 Freedom from Slavery
Article 5 Freedom from Torture & Degrading Treatment
Article 6 Right to Recognition as a Person before the Law
Article 7 Right to Equality before the Law
Article 8 Right to Remedy by Competent Tribunal
Article 9 Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and Exile
Article 10 Right to Fare Public Hearing
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 11 Right to be Considered Innocent until Proven Guilty
Article 12 Freedom from Interference with Privacy, Family, Home and Correspondence
Article 13 Right to Free Movement in and out of the Country
Article 14 Right to Asylum in other Countries from Persecution
Article 15 Right to Nationality and the Freedom to Change It
Article 16 Right to Marriage and Family
Article 17 Right to Own Property
Article 18 Freedom of Belief and Religion
Article 19 Freedom of Opinion and Information
Article 20 Right of Peaceful Assembly and Association
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 21 Right to Participate in Government and in Free Elections
Article 22 Right to Social Security
Article 23 Right to Desirable Work and to Join Trade Unions
Article 24 Right to Rest and Leisure
Article 25 Right to Adequate Living Standards
Article 26 Right to Education
Article 27 Right to Participate in the Cultural Life of Community
Article 28 Right to Social Order that Articulates this Document
Article 29 Community Duties Essential to Free and Full Development
Article 30 Freedom from State or Personal Interference in the above Rights
 Human Rights Commission of the Philippines
Human Rights
• are supreme, inherent, and inalienable rights
to life, dignity and self-development
• to protect all people everywhere from severe
political, legal, and social abuses

 It is the essence of these rights that makes

man human.
 Let us always be reminded that we

humans were created “of high priority”

above all creations.

 Review Questions

1. Enumerate and Describe five (5) current

technological developments.
2. Which one is most important to you?
3. Explain its benefits and the reason for
your selection.
 Review Question

Explain the impact of technological

innovations and developments to the
universal human rights by giving three
(3) examples.
 Review Question

Enumerate five (5) advantages &

disadvantages of modern technologies.
 Review Question

Reflect on the role of technology in

human flourishing and in progress and
development. Compose your answer in
a paragraph of 10 sentences.