Regardless of where you live or your obstinacy about the use and benefits of technology, you cannot deny the fact that technology is now everywhere. You are reading this article because of the advent of various technological advancements in recent years. Now, technology has changed how we do many things, and, as such, it has impacted every part of our lives. Nowadays, the relationship between technology and our society cannot be denied as several things have changed significantly.

How has technology changed our lives? What are the effects of technology on society? These are a few crucial questions that many people have continued to ask over the past years. Don’t worry as this article will take you on a short journey of how technology has changed our lives positively and negatively.

• Communication

Without a doubt, communication is one of the most obvious areas where technology has changed our lives. In past centuries, communication is through physical means. However, things have changed over time and now we have tons of electronic communication means. From social networking, emails, phone calls, and so on, communication methods are almost unlimited nowadays. You can now sit in the comfort of your home and have video calls with anyone around the world.

In terms of communication, technology has not only changed our lives positively, but it also has a negative impact. Today, physical socialization and face-to-face contact have suffered significantly. Numerous people don’t communicate physically again; they rather depend on their smartphones and other devices for interaction.

• Digitization of education

Education has changed so much recently. All thanks to the power of technology. We can get so much information, data, and knowledge as the internet has made things easy for everyone. Besides, online schools have made things more flexible than ever before. Udemy, Alison, edX, and Coursera are some of the biggest online platforms that offer tons of degrees online. From your home and office, you can join a virtual class and obtain a degree anywhere in the world.

• Transportation

Transportation is another factor that has affected the way we live. Trains, airplanes, buses, cars, and other transportation modes have eased the movement of people and goods from one place to another. Apart from enjoying travel more than ever before, our lives have also changed because we can travel faster.

In the past decades, ridesharing platforms like Uber have also contributed to the way technology has changed our lives positively. With the projection about self-driving cars in the next few years, the effect of transportation on our society will be even more powerful than we have today.

• Agricultural mechanization

Subsistence farming and manual labor are major parts of ancient farming systems. However, technology has changed every facet of our agricultural practice as we now rely on machines and technological systems. This change has not only reduced human input in producing food resources, but it has also made farm practices to be more efficient and automated. Furthermore, food production has increased in many countries globally.

• Health concerns

The effect of technology on health has been both positive and negative. Foremost, technology has assisted us to be able to manage and cure certain conditions that were previously known to be deadly. As a result of this, there are increases in the management of various resources and lifespans.

While longer life spans are good, they have led to an explosion of the human population. Also, we are more exposed to more EMFs and blue light from different electronic equipment. Additionally, the use of technology has led to an unprecedented increase in sedentary lifestyles. Most of these problems have now caused numerous chronic health conditions.

• Industrialization

Despite the several benefits of industrialization, we cannot help but talk about its impacts on the increase in pollution. Industrial wastes, air pollution, global warming, and fossil fuel emissions are some of the most common negative impacts of industrialization. Due to this technological advancement, cancer and several other chronic health problems have become more common than before.

It is worthwhile to understand that industrialization has also contributed to the depletion of resources. Fossil fuels, food resources, and mineral resources have all been depleted. The use of these resources to take care of our needs for electronics, fuels and other items is the major culprit that is responsible for the depletion.

No matter how we consider them, the above points have shown the relationship between technology and society as well as the effects on how our lives have been changed by technology. If you want to compare the differences in how things were and how they are today due to the advent of technology, use this percentage decrease calculator.