Technology: The Importance Of Technological Innovation In The World

In the information age of today, we are inundated with technology. We are constantly plugged into our phones, computers, and other electronic devices. We stay connected, informed, and on track because of them. When one hears the word “technology”, they immediately think of the aforementioned consumer electronics. That is because today, the word “technology” carries the connotation of applying solely to electronics. However, this was not always the case as the denotation of the word has a much broader net and includes things the average layman would not point to as an example of a technological innovation. Technological innovation has always been a part of human nature even before the advent of the digital revolution in the 1950’s, though. In

This is first seen a mere 300 years later with the discovery of the wheel and axle which allowed wheeled transportation such as chariots to be feasible. Wheeled transportation changed not only how people traveled and conducted trade, but also how they fought wars. This is due to the fact that it made traveling distances with cargo, whether human or goods, an easier feat. The next device to expand upon the wheel was the pulley with the simple pulley being invented in Mesopotamia around 1500 BC and the compound pulley being invented by Archimedes between 287 BC and 212 BC. Pulleys allowed for more efficient use of energy in lifting heavy loads so one man could do the work of many. Today, they are still useful and seen everywhere from the engine of a car (the belt and pulley system) to backstage at the theater. In the 5th century, the wheel was used again in the creation of the wheelbarrow in Greece. This discovery helped make agricultural labor less taxing as now farmers could stack their crops into the wheelbarrow and move more with less effort

Like the wheel, having a written language allowed for humans to trade goods and ideas more easily. With the invention of writing, people could now keep records of transactions, their religious beliefs, calendars, laws, wars, etc. and then share those records with others near and far. Consequently, we can study these documents to learn more about them and their history instead of blindly guessing as to what artifacts they left behind meant. For example, European scholars’ ideas on ancient Egyptians were vastly changed when the Rosetta Stone was discovered and deciphered as before they relied mainly on artifacts to piece together their history. Written language has been acknowledged throughout time for its importance since its discovery. Scribes in ancient cultures such as the Sumerian and Ancient Egyptian were highly revered and today it is agreed among scholars that having a written language is one of six markings of a civilization. Written language also helps in the development of culture as without it, we would not have literature and things such as Beethoven’s symphonies or Shakespeare’s plays would have died with them as there would have been way to preserve them. Written forms of communication are also integral to our society at this point. Everything from our education system to our government relies on there being a way to