STS MODULE 3

• Technology


  The application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life or to the change and manipulation of the human environment
• Technology keeps on progressing due to the changing times and environment and also to the ever progressing mind of mankind
• Nipkow disk


  Invented by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, laid the foundation of television, a fundamental component in the first mechanical televisions
• Cathode ray tube


  Used by Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton and Boris Rosing in a new system of television in addition to the mechanical scanner system
• This success gave rise to two types of television systems, the mechanical and electronic television
• First mobile phone


  Invented by Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola, in 1973, weighed 1.1 kilograms, measured 228.6 x 127 x 44.4 mm, capable of a 30-minute talk time, took 10 hours to charge
• Analytical Engine


  Designed by Charles Babbage, used as the basic framework of the computers even until the present time, considered as the "Father of the computer"
• Roles played by technological advancements

  • Television: platform for advertisements, information dissemination, propaganda, and advocacy
  • Mobile phones: communication, texting, calling, all-in-one device
  • Personal computers and laptops: online jobs, online education, computer games
• Ethical dilemmas faced by technological advancements

  • Over usage - Unhealthy Lifestyle
  • Social Isolation
  • Misused of Personal information
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)


  Crafted in December 10, 1948, after World War II, as global standard of fundamental human rights for universal recognition and protection
• UDHR outlines inalienable human rights (in 30 articles) that are vital and necessary in the pursuit of the good life
• First 7 Articles of UDHR


  • Article 1: We are all born free and equal
  • Article 2: Freedom from Discrimination
  • Article 3: Right to Life
  • Article 4: Freedom from Slavery
  • Article 5: Freedom from Torture
  • Article 6: Right to Recognition Before the Law
  • Article 7: Right to Equality Before the Law
• The rise of the machinery accompanying the progress in science and technology may render humans useless
• Advantages and disadvantages of AI and robots

  • Advantage: Decisions arise from sophisticated statistical analyses made from massive data
  • Disadvantage: Unemployment, workers may be affected and lose their jobs with the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the internet become an instant go-to tool for answers to questions
• Humans created robots, so we are on top of them
• Robots were designed to make humans' lives easy, yet they have become dependent on them
• Bill Joy's essay "Why the future doesn't need us"


  Expresses deep concerns over the development of modern technologies - Genetics, Nanotech, and Robotics (GNR) - that are threatening to make humans endangered species
• The atomic bomb in Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945) that killed over 100,000 people is a definite example to the success of science and technology but was also a fatal reminder of its destructive power
• GNR today is accessible to small groups and individuals and does not require funding and facilities like nuclear weapons, making it more prone to accidents and abuses, especially when placed in the hands of wrong groups or individuals
• Freeman Dyson's thoughts in "The Day After Trinity"


  Human nature may be corrupted when the powers of our mind, our rationality, and our science and technology become manifest. If we are not able to rein in the vanity and arrogance that such powers unleash, then we are on the way to destroying the world.