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Essay Available:
Pages:
5 pages/≈1375 words
Sources:
10 Sources
Style:
MLA
Subject:
Technology
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
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MS Word
Date:
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$ 27
Topic:

History of Technology: Technological Advancements

Essay Instructions:

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU START
Please cite as much course materials as possible. Course materials will be attached.
Please follow the instruction below. Thank you!
For your final exam you are going to write a 4-6 page double spaced size 12 font essay that pulls from as much of the course material as possible.
Your prompt is as follows:
Prompt: Throughout this course we have discussed both the merits and potential drawbacks of various technology. On the positive side, technology has allowed us to live longer, healthier lives with greater degrees of comfort and global access. On the negative side we have seen the rise of increasingly dangerous wars, global pandemics, environmental damage/climate change, artificial products, and other social drawbacks. After viewing the materials from this course what are your thoughts on technological advancement? Do you believe that technological advancement is generally a process that benefits humanity, or do you view it as something that rather contributes to our suffering and environmental destruction? Or do you see it as a complex combination of these two things? Each lecture focuses on some positive and negative components of technological "advancement" for you to consider. If you need more evidence for the potential negatives associated with modern society especially consider the last two lectures--especially the material presented next week in the final mini-lecture on climate change, nuclear energy, artificial society, etc.
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer here because clearly the case could be made for either side. Some historians have pointed to the modern era as the era of mass stress, environmental destruction etc, while others choose to highlight the many ways in which we have become more accepting, healthier, happier, and more comfortable as a species. Your job here is to think about where you stand and more importantly, to find a variety of evidence over different time periods to support your answers. Think about the cultural changes -- "us and them"--those with power and those without and what technology has done for this divide. Think about global connectivity and the benefits and pitfalls of this. Think about technology's role in empire and again the multifaceted legacy of empire/colonialism. On the other hand think about the role that medicine, agricultural advancements, and other scientific advancements have done for humans. There are many ways to look at this question.
Here are some of the elements your graders and I will be looking at as we grade:
1. Page length--is the paper 4-6 pages long?
2. Thesis--is it clear from the first paragraph what you are arguing/are you answering the main bold question from the prompt?
3. Arguments/evidence: Are you giving SPECIFIC arguments and cited evidence from the course to support your ideas?
4. Organization: Does each paragraph introduce a new sub-argument and related evidence?
5. Conclusion: Do you wrap up your arguments with a strong summary of your evidence and restatement of the thesis?
The big points here are to make sure you pick a side --tech good/tech bad and then support this with as much evidence as possible while considering why the alternative argument is less potent based on our evidence.
Feel free to reach out to me with questions or for help!

Essay Sample Content Preview:
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History of Technology: Technological Advancements
While technology allowed humans to live longer, healthier lives with greater degrees of global access and comfort, the negative components of technological advancements have sparked a heated debate over its benefits to humanity. For instance, the rise of global pandemics, increasingly dangerous wars, artificial products, environmental damage or climate change, and other social drawbacks potentially discredit the role of technology in society today. Nevertheless, the four stages of Industrial Revolution that humanity has witnessed since 1750 are worth examining from historical lenses given the benefits and drawbacks technology has presented since. During the first Industrial Revolution (1750-1869), technology introduced coal based (steam) power, mass-production of goods, ship transportation, railroad, and the use of iron. With these possibilities, environmental changes emerged as production of more goods became necessary to satisfy the growing population. The second Industrial Revolution (1870 – early 20th century) saw the introduction of electricity, expansion of railroads, telephone technology, and increased use of petroleum products. Nuclear energy, mass global connectivity, and the invention of the Internet marked the Third Revolution (1960-2000) (Lecture 5). It is argued that the present Fourth Revolution (2000 – Present) is rather hypothetical, but increased use of the Internet, smart phones, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality have offered a special categorization of the present humans to be living in the Fourth Revolution. Rather than entirely support technological advances for the benefits to humanity, an ambivalent thesis is befitting that technology is a complex combination of benefits as well as a phenomenon that has also brought suffering and environmental destruction.
Through technology, the world witnessed a rapid expansion of the manufacturing sector during the First Industrial Revolution, particularly in northern England, New England, and the United States. The increased economic activities is a result of this revolution that saw the rise of fossil fuel use, new forms of industrial organization, and changes in the labor regime from home labor to factory labor. Several factors, including technology resulted in the explosion of the first Industrial hubs in North England, as well as Scotland. Using strong traditional experimental science and innovation, England was able to be at the cutting edge of reaping the benefits of industrial technology. Major inventions such as the textile machinery, Watt’s steam engine, use of iron, and a shift to mineral economy improved daily lifestyles of people during the time, thanks to technology. Nevertheless, with these changes, the working class was exposed to dangerous conditions at workplaces, sometimes working for long hours. In England and much of the continental Europe, historians note that the life expectancy and general health of population declined for at least two generations following the launch of the first factories. The concept of enforcing time regimentation among workers not only ensured more production, but was a way ...
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