When technology and

Humanity Cross
CHAPTER X
Technology and its
Importance to
Human Society
Technology
- the application of scientific knowledge on
techniques and processes
- used mainly in industries
- has practical impact in the communities
especially in agriculture, heath, education and
transportation sector.
- developed through human behavior
associated with survival in the course of
evolution
Advantages and
Disadvantages of
Modern Technology
1. Improved communication, easy
access to information and social
networking
- spoken word stories (5-7M yrs. Ago)
- Morse Code (1836)
- Typewriter (1867)
- Online content communication,
writing software, web technology, social
media connections (2011)
2. Improved Housing, Lifestyle and
Entertainment
- more sophisticated materials used to
build houses
- home activity equipment's are
automated and more versatile
- e.g. Smart TV, Home assistants
3. Convenience in Education
- education is not anymore limited to
classroom setting
- Education through online courses and
other web-based seminars serves as
avenues to reach almost every corner of
the world.
4. Convenience in Traveling
- there is ease of travel as technology
allows easy access of merchandise and
tourist to and from other countries with
the help of modern day public transport
system
- SG and Japan, invested a lot to
improved their rail and airport systems.
5. Change in Health Industry
- changed the structure of medical field
as it introduces more sophisticated
equipment for diagnosis and treatment.
- recent breakthroughs have allowed
for the discovery and development of new
treatment procedures such as the
following:
Changes in Health
Industry examples:
Star Trek Style Tricorder
- multifunction hand-held
device used for sensor
scanning and recording data
- helps the doctor detect
diseases and collect vital
information about a patients
condition.
Interoperability between
Health Systems
- creates a workflow that
allows the transfer of
information between
healthcare facilities for ease
and accuracy of treatment of
the patients.
Robotic Nurse Assistant
- are robots designed to
help nurses in lifting or
moving patients around
without the danger of
causing injuries to the health
care worker and the patient.
Artificial Retinas
- Intended to replace the
retina of individuals who lost
their vision mainly as a result
of retinal degenerative
diseases
Advanced Prosthetics
- Neural control is used to
move these prosthetics with
a challenge of creating an
interface that is compatible
to our nervous system to
prevent latency of movement
Remote Patient
Monitoring
- a portal device that aids
in the monitoring of all
health parameters to allow
doctors to perform diagnosis
even without visiting a clinic
Anti-Aging Drugs
- this drug has entered
trials in the hope of slowing
down the aging process to
reduce the burden of
treating diseases such as
cancer, diabetes and
dementia
Tooth Regeneration
- uses low-powered laser
to activate stem cells in
stimulating the growth of
teeth. Other studies have
also identified the gene
necessary for tooth
activation.
Disinfecting Light bulbs
- uses visible light in
healthcare facilities to
continuously disinfect and
prevent infection. It involves
targeting porphyrins in bacteria
to produce Reactive Oxygen
Species that will reactivate
bacterial reproduction in the
area.
Electronic Underwear
Preventing Bed Sores
- creates an electric
charge for the patient to
activate the muscle and
blood circulation in the area
every ten minutes.
Long Lasting Batteries
- has fast charging
capabilities support the
needs of power hungry
devices and equipment
6. Efficiency and Productivity
- New technologies provide different
industries to increase production, and
reduce labor cost to meet demand of
growing society.
7. Initiates creativity and
innovation
- Technology allows
entrepreneurs to start up with their
online business thereby opening an
avenue for a more creative and
innovative approach. This would
also enable the business to operate
while the owner is attending other
important activities
Disadvantages of
Technology
Job loss and human displacement
- companies adopt new innovations
little by little leading to redundant
functions between technology and humans.
- technological advancement have
cause excitement towards the
development of products with globally
accepted quality but raised some concerns
over the possible massive job displacement
 According to the International Labor
Organization (2016), five countries in the
ASEAN Region (Cam, Phil, Viet, Thai and
Indonesia) that contributes to about 80% of
the ASEAN workforce were studied. The
results were projected to visualize
industrial and technological trends up to
2025.
Research Results:
• In the next two decades, high risk of
employment displacement will be due to
technological advancement.

• Most of leading industries with high

potential of automating their services
would include hotels and restaurants ,
wholesale and retail, and construction
and manufacturing
• Some of the industries less affected by
automation would include education,
training, health and social work services

• In specific countries like Cambodia,

Thailand and Indonesia, national
workforce faces high risk of automation
most specifically in the areas of garment
production, sale assistant and office clerk
• In most high-risk occupations, women
are more likely to be positively affected
as they are more favored to work in such
fields. Moreover, those who have not
finished degree courses or certified
skilled also faces higher automation risk.
 In the Philippines, about 49% of the
total waged workers are at high risk of
technological innovations and automation
lower than Indonesia with 56%, Cambodia
with 57%, and Vietnam with 70%. The
noted differences are dependent on the
major industries that support employment
most specially those that are in the sales,
garments and landscaping industries.
Other Technological
Effects to Humanity
1. World Destruction Weapons
- from spears, bows and arrows
that was used before, technology
has developed machineries and
armaments that caused massive
death among countries at war.
Other developments in this field
includes, drones, fly-by-wire
technologies, submarines, various
missiles, stealth technology in
aircrafts, and nuclear weapons
2. Increased loneliness
- technological advancement have
caused PHYSICAL SOCIAL ISOLATION
which is the absence of interactive
relationship between family members
and friends at the individual level.
- Though social connections exists,
studies suggests that this kind of
connection or relation makes and
individual feel isolated leading to
superficial and less rewarding
relationship
3. Competency
- Increased dependence
on modern tools and
technologies that create
innovations and changes in
the society may reduce
human creativity and
intelligence.
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 and 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 Fair Public Hearing
Article 11- Right to be considered Innocent until proven guilty
Article 12- Freedom from Interface 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
Article 21- Right to Participate in Government and Free Elec.
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 Standard
Article 26- Right to Education
Article 27- Right to Participate in the Cultural Life Community
Article 28- Right to a Social order that Articulates this Doc.
Article 29- Community Duties Essential to free and Full Dev.
Article 30- Freedom from State or Personal Interference in the
Above Rights
Emerging
Technological
Ethical Dilemmas
 The need to explore conceptual, ethical,
and policy issues of the society where
modern technological advancement
promotes the advancement of science and
technology for the common good. It should
be clear that the recent technologies and
innovations should not hinder any individual
from enjoying and of the rights mentioned in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Technological
Ethical Dilemmas
1. Real-time Satellite
Surveillance Imagery
- cheaper, smaller and more
sophisticated Imaging Satellites
- records the status of Earth in
Real time
- helpful in planning for and
solving humanitarian problems
- but if used by the wrong
people, might violate the privacy of
human life
2. Colonizing Mars: An
Astronaut Bioethics
- NASA & Mars One, will work
together to put 4 Astronauts in
Mars by the year 2025
- a one-way mission, with the
goal to establish the first
community outside Earth
- However, there is a need for
risk assessment in establishing
such colony.
3. Wearable Technology
- Wearable technologies that
suits human behavior and activities
- continues to develop and
becomes a hit for millennials
- has beneficial function in
education and health but their
capabilities to expose details of
our personal lives could be a
problem.
4. State-sponsored Hacktivism
and “Soft War”
- SOFT WAR, an unarmed force
using cyber war and HACKTIVISM
with the aim of transforming
cultural values and identities of
society to achieve political ends.
- progresses to cultural
invasions and psychological
operations. The use of cyber-
attacks to any government could be
a problem
5. Enhanced Pathogens
- Researches about the gain of
function of known diseases such as
Influenza, SARS, and MERS have been
suspended in the US because of
biosafety concerns.
- understanding these diseases
will help the Medical field on how to
treat it. However this research could
also increase transmission and
virulence which outweighs its
benefits.
6. Non-lethal weapons
- not designed to kill but they
remain to be an emerging ethical
and policy dilemma.
- e.g. laser missiles, blinding
weapons, pain rays, sonic weapons,
electric weapons, as well as gases
and sprays.
- could be diffused by peaceful
means but if used improperly it
could be used as a means of torture.
7. Robot Swarms
- group of robots that is
developed to communicate with each
other to perform tasks without human
intervention
- the risk of this technology is the
tendency of these robots to
malfunction and cause harm and
accidents
8. Artificial Life Forms
- An emerging field of science, focused on
the custom-building of synthetic life forms by
introducing DNA to an existing organism.
- safety issues and risk factors is still
connected to the possible release of these
artificial life forms into our environment.
- used to cure diseases, but may also be
used in developing biological weapons
9. Resilient Social-ecological Systems
- The need to build resilience both in the
social and ecological systems of each nation is
necessary most specially in facing societal
problems brought about by poverty, economic
globalization, and natural phenomenon such as
climate change and natural disasters.
10. Brain-to-brain interfaces
- (started in 2014)
– directs communication from
one brain to another without
speech by using EEG machine that
detects brain activity in the
sender and a trans-cranial
magnetic stimulation coil that
controls movement in the receiver
thereby performing the act as
directed by the sender.
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