Technology

Technology can be rightly said to have brought desired changes in every occupation, in all developing societies. No society can claim to have developed without the benefits of technology. Technology application and the changes it brings are in fact intended and necessitated, as it is a part of the larger development of the society. Scientific research may well be described as the heart of our development and progress.

Developments in every sphere and the benefits it provides for mankind is directly or indirectly attributed to scientific research. Researches in science and technology have indeed made our lives better than that of our forefathers. Apart from improving the quality and comfort of our lives, it also contributes to providing a secure future. Scientific researches are driven by a sense of requirement or demand, which provides either direct or indirect benefit to the users. These inventions may be directed at improving the quality or quantity of the products or services. For instance the need to communicate anywhere across the globe instantly, has led to the development of the Internet. The evolution of a new disease or a health issue would see researchers working to solve it.

There is no doubt that all scientific research adds to our knowledge base, apart from development. Unfortunately, in some occasions such researches are only directed towards human curiosity rather than any other definite or beneficial purpose. The outcomes of such research, which may also be expensive, would have no bearing for mankind. Researchers associated with such needless research should realize that the resources wasted in their endeavor could be put to better use. Sometimes we cannot generalize all curiosity-based research to be valueless and undesired, as curiosity has relevance with the quality of human life.

People may perceive such research to be useful only in teaching it and, without any notable direct application. Take for instance the many theorems and formulae in math it is difficult for people to comprehend a direct use for these and would therefore presume it fit only for teaching. However, as science and all its domains are interrelated, any data would have its own use. It should be noted here that many of these math conceptions are the basis for the development of science and technology.

When the research is directed to a direct goal like cure for disease (NRC, 2002) or development of a gadget etc., we easily realize its uses and advantages, unlike when it is fully theoretical.  The relevance of social class and scientific research is very evident in medical research. Todays research and inventions are market driven, and therefore have high social relevance. Scientific research being primarily sponsored, the corporations sponsor research only when there is profit in them. Thus even unimportant products with have high market value would see rapid improvements compared to essential products with low market value. For instance the pharmaceutical companies prefer developing products that are focused on addressing baldness, impotency and beauty enhancement, to ensure profits. Although several developing countries have many tropical diseases affecting millions of people, such companies are not interested in addressing such markets because the people there are poor to afford them.

With time, scientific inventions have become closely associated with social class. The developed products and services kept improving in their efficiency and effectiveness and with that the costs of accessing these too rose. In due course of time the results of certain scientific research was beyond the reach of certain sections in every fields. For instance while many people can benefit from car fuel saving research, development of fashionable cars, was directed only to a select class. Thus scientific research has deviated from being universally applicable. The fact that affluent sections wanted products and services beyond the reach of the general public only saw researchers willing to work exclusively for this segment. Such research and development had been fundamental in the evolution of high end products exclusively catering for the affluent. Scientific research thus has high social relevance.