Sci&Tech History

Most people will agree that drugs are forbidden in sport event while using high-tech swimsuit or the newest sport shoes technology are allowed. What make those externalities different: is it because one try to manipulate human ability directly in their body while the other don’t? In swimming competition for example, swimsuit technology become one factor that influence water friction with the swimmer and affected swimmer speed. In car race, technology effect increase even deeper. Technology improvement can be seen in almost every car race event, whether the tire is getting thiner, shape of the car, aerodynamics calculation etc. So boundary between human abilities and technology start to vanish.

For humanist, the proposition above can always be rejected by saying that it is human who create the technology. But when we see the case deeper, the creator and the consumer are mostly different, especially when we see in the mass production goods. This situation also imply technology as a new capital to improve human life. While traditional people do their trade by seeing each other, the internet allow us to make a transaction with people from around the world. All you have to do is fill some security number.

Okay, I will try to use a more ‘down’to-earth’ case in Indonesian situation. Technology and fishing. Indonesia lack of fishing technology, both security and fishing ship caused Indonesian fisherman failed to compete with foreign fisherman who have a complete technology navigation and detector so they can track fish movement. By the end, technology separate person and determine people wealth. This viscous can always be cutted off, but this is not easy. They have to have an access to ship, fuel, harvest technology and post-harvest technology. The culture of the fisherman who like to spent all they money after the harvest also have to be changed.

It is difficult to say technology as dominant factor, as well as human, but how technology and human influence each other…

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