Open AccessTHE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER: Technology: Good, bad, or neutral?
Author(s) -
John Ikerd
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of agriculture, food systems, and community development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2152-0798
pISSN - 2152-0801
DOI - 10.5304/jafscd.2022.112.001
Subject(s) - unintended consequences , form of the good , encyclopedia , human life , computer science , epistemology , humanity , political science , law , philosophy , library science
Is technology good, bad, or neutral? The prevailing sentiment seems to be that technology is neither good nor bad, but is simply a tool that can be used for either. However, once a technology has been developed, its net effects will be one or the other. The consequences will depend on the intention, or perhaps inattention, with which a technology is developed and applied. The Encyclopedia Britannica (n.d.) defines technology as “the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life” (para. 1). The basic purpose of technology, whether mechanical, biological, or digital, is to allow people do things easier, faster, or better. Whether a technology is good, bad, or neutral depends on whose intentions or aims are met and who suffers any unintended consequences. The net effects of a technology, considering both good and bad, is determined not only by whether it contributes to the practical aims of some, but whether it contributes to the betterment of society or life in general.