Love It or Hate It - Let's Leverage Technology

New inventions or tools have impacted our lives in many ways. Think about how the wheel changed transportation and how the arrival of the steam engine began the era of the Industrial revolution. The printing press documented stories and information, increasing access to knowledge. Refrigeration affected our diet and eating habits. Consider all the ways the telephone, telegraph, radio and television affected how we think, communicate, entertain ourselves, share information and how far reaching our influence is on one another. You can learn about events taking place in far away places as well as communicate, engage in trade and grow as a globally connected world. These tools were life-changing but not everyone saw them as positive changes. For example, some people didn’t want books (information) to be readily available to the masses because it would upset the social order through access to knowledge.

Similarly, digital inventions or technologies have also changed our lives in the way we work, shop, communicate, influence and entertain ourselves. Just like the tools of the past, these tools also have benefits and challenges. There is concern about tech addictions, on-line safety and privacy concerns, job loss and identity theft. On the other hand, there are benefits such as more efficient access to information, the ability to communicate quickly using various platforms including social media and it opens up the door for creativity and innovation paving the way for possibilities and the collision of ideas. But just like earlier inventions, it is important to embrace the positive contribution that the invention can make while guarding against negative outcomes.

Leveraging technology means being thoughtful about how we use the tools we have. In this series we will explore not only the ever-reaching possibilities, but some challenges they bring as well.