LESSO

WHEN
N 4:

TECHNOLOG
Y AND
HUMANITY
CROSS
 Lesson
At the end of this lesson, the students should
objectives:
be able to:
know the different technological
advancements in society,
discuss the development of science
and technology in the Philippines:
discuss the effects of the interplay
between technology and humanity
through the dilemmats) they face.
Introduction:
The ever-growing society has made people see technology as some form
of necessity. Tracing back its origins, the word "technology" came from
the Greek words technë and logos which mean art and word,
respectively. Taking the two words together, technology means a
discourse on arts (Buchanan, 2010). It first appeared in the seventeenth
century where the concept was only used to talk about the arts,
specifically applied arts. However, as technology progressed, the
concept also started to have a wider range of meaning where art is no
longer the only topic included. Concepts like machine and tools were
also attached to the word "technology" which is the more popular sense
of the concept nowadays. The roles played by technology these days are
very crucial not only to a few but also to everyone. In one way or
another, each person in the society is directly or indirectly affected by
technology whether he wills it or not. In fact, most people survive their
everyday lives with great reliance to the different technological
It is with great effort that people were able to achieve
such great inventions. It makes life so much easier and
more convenient than ever before. It can clearly be seen
from the simplest task at home to the most complicated
ones inside the office or laboratory. Technology these
days enjoys such fame and glory because of the many
different benefits it brings to mankind. Some would even
say that it does not only bring convenience but also
pleasure and happiness to people. This is because of the
different leisure activities that technology can offer to
people. For example, it allows people to listen to good
music wherever they are. Another is, it allows them to
communicate with their loved ones anywhere in the
The act of pinpointing a single activity that does not
in any way require the use of technology has become
very hard because almost all activities that humans
perform already require the assistance of some kind
of technological advancement. But this is not all, for
there are people who would even argue that
technology has become a necessity and no longer a
want. At present, people work very hard in order to
save money to buy these "necessities" while in the
past, people only used their money for the things that
would help them survive like food, housing, and
clothing. In effect, anything outside these categories
In general, technology keeps on progressing due to not only
the changing times and environment but also to the ever-
progressing mind of mankind. It would not be possible for all
these technological advancements to exist if it were not for
the brilliance, creativeness, and power of the mind. However,
it is also important to note that anything too much is bad. The
same problem is faced by technology. Although it has been
very helpful to people, it is still not immune to criticisms and
backlash. Various ethical dilemmas have been identified
throughout time involving the use of different technological
devices and its effects to humanity. Usually, different problems
arise when either the technological device available is
misused or if in the first place, it was invented to produce bad
results. People who are aware of the possible dangers of the
 Television Sets, Mobile Phones, Computers, and
Humanity

A number of technological devices can be easily found inside

the home, the most accessible place to anyone. Having said
that, it can also be easily inferred that these technological
devices are some of the most popular and most commonly
used types of devices across all age groups. Almost all
households, if not all, own these types of devices. To be more
specific, these "celebrities" in the field of technology are
television sets, mobile phones, and computers. People all
over the world use these technologies every day to
accomplish different purposes.
First, according to Kantar Media, one of the most trusted
television audience measurement providers, in the Philippines,
92 percent of urban homes and 70 percent of rural homes
own at least one television set. It is for this reason why
television remains to be the ultimate medium for
advertisement placements (The Manila Times, 2014).

This survey simply shows that almost all Filipinos use this
particular type of device. In fact, Filipinos are believed to have
this big fascination for television. Most of the time, they watch
television during their free time or any time of the day when
they have nothing important to do. In addition to this. Kantar
Media also reported that in the Philippines, the current count
of Households with television set already reached 15.135
million (Noda, 20121 us number signifies something, that is,
Television was a product of different
experiments by various people. Paul Gottlieb
TELEVISION
Nipkow, a German student, in the late 1800s
was successful in his attempt to send images
through wires with the aid of a rotating metal
disk. This invention was then called the "electric
telescope" that had 18 lines of resolution. After
some time, in 1907, two inventors, Alan
Archibald Campbell-Swinton who was an
English scientist and Boris Rosing who was a
Russian scientist,
This success story created
gave rise a to
new
twosystem
types ofoftelevision systems, namely,
television
mechanicalbyand using the cathode
electronic ray tube
television in n.d.). These experiments
(Jezek,
addition
inspired to the mechanical
other scientists toscanner
improvesystem.
the previous inventions, which led to
the modern television people now have. However, it is important to
remember that several scientists and several experiments were
 MOBILE
Second, Filipinos love to use their

PHONES
mobile phones anywhere, anytime.
They use it for different purposes other
than for communication. More than
half of the Filipino population own at
In 2010,
least one global
mobile research agency Synovate
phone regardless of conducted a survey and
declared
type. 67 percent product ownership in the country. In fact, it was
also claimed that mobile phones are considered a must-have among
young Filipinos (ABS-CBN News, 2010). To prove that Filipinos really love
to use their mobile phones, the Ipsos Media Atlas Philippines
Nationwide Urban 2011-2012 survey results showed that one in every
three Filipinos cannot live without a mobile phone. In other words, 30
percent of the Philippine urban population nationwide said that mobile
phones are necessities in life (Roa, 2012). Philippine streets are full of
Mobile phones have a very interesting background
story. On April 1, 1973, Martin Cooper, a senior
engineer at Motorola, made the world's first mobile
phone call. He called their rival telecommunications
company and properly informed them that he was
making the call from a mobile
 computers and
laptops
Computers and laptops have also
become part of many of the Filipino
households. There are some Filipino
families who own more than one
computer or laptop while some own at
least one computer or laptop.
However, the number of computers or
laptops sold per year may not be as
high as the number of mobile phones
and television sets. This is because of
 computers and
In 2010, 3.6 trillion was the estimated
laptops
total value output of all manufacturing
establishments. Semi-conductor devices
and other electronic components took
more than half of the total value output of
all manufacturing establishments. To be
more specific, 5.4 percent of the total
value output came from computers and
peripheral equipment and accessories
(PSA, 2013). In line with the growing
number of computer and laptop sales,
there has also been a growing number of
Internet users in the Philippines. Although
 computers and
laptops
It was Charles Babbage, a nineteenth-
century English Mathematics professor,
who designed the Analytical Engine
which was used as the basic framework
of the computers even until the present
time. In general, computers can be
classified into three generations. Each
generation of the computer was used for
a certain period of time and each gave
people a new and improved version of
the previous one (Steitz, n.d.).
 computers and
laptops
Before, the first design of computer was
so big that could occupy whole floors of
buildings. It was believed that the
transition from a personal computer to
laptop was only a matter of design, an
improvement and a little deviation from
the standard design of a personal
computer. The first true portable
computer was released in April 1981.
It was called the Osborne 1 (Orfano,
2011). From that moment on, the
evolution of laptops continued until the
 Here are some facts about Filipinos and their use of
gadgets and the Internet (Rappler, n.d.):

1. Mobile phone subscription is at 119 million.

2. Filipinos spend approximately 3.2 hours on mobile and 5.2
hours on desktop daily.
[Link], the Philippines has one of the highest digital
populations in the world.
[Link] are now 47 million active Facebook accounts in the
Philippines.
[Link] Philippines is the fastest-growing application market in
Southeast Asia.
 ROLES PLAYED BY THESE TECHNOLOGICAL
ADVANCEMENTS

Televisi
ons
-Television is mainly used as a platform for
advertisements and information dissemination.
- Various advertising companies trust that
television is still one of the most used technological
devices up until today.
-However, it is important to note that these are just
some of the roles played by television.
-It also serves as a recreational activity and good
stress reliever to most families, specifically to
Filipino families.
- Television also is a good platform for different
propagandas and advocacies.
 Mobile phones
-Mobile phones offer services like texting and
calling. In the present, people use their
mobile phones to surf the Internet and to take
pictures more than to text or to call people.
This is the reason why more and more people
all over the world prefer to buy smartphones
over the old models where such features are
not available. Other applications include
music player, calendar, radio, television, and
photo editor, among others. These are just
some of the additional features of mobiles
phones in the present.
 Personal computers and
laptops
Personal computers and laptops can be used
to surf the Internet and communicate. Just like
the mobile phones, these devices also have
features like calendar, calculator. music
player, movie player, camera, and many more.
However, for a lot of people, they prefer to do
their job using either a personal computer of
laptop than a mobile phone. One reason is
that a personal computer or a laptop has wide
keyboard than using a mobile phone,
especially when the mobile phone has a small
screen. . Lastly, for the youth and those who
love to play different computer games,
personal computers or laptops are really the
 Ethical Dilemma Faced by
These Technological
Advancements
While it is true that these technological devices are useful and
beneficial, the fact remains that there are several dilemmas
faced by these "necessities." This is because of the fact that
people who are fixated on these technological advancements
start and end their day by using such devices. They have a great
tendency to sit and chill all day long without doing anything
productive in their homes, thus making them unhealthy because
they do not just skip meals sometimes but also lack exercise or
any bodily movements. Here, it can be inferred that these types
of people are already overly dependent on these technological
devices. . Moreover, these are the same people who are more
likely to experience alienation because they no longer take time
Another dilemma faced by these technological devices is the
moral dilemma. People, especially the children who are not
capable yet of rationally deciding for themselves what is right
or wrong, are freely exposed to different things on television,
mobiles phones, laptops, or computers.

On the first dilemma, it is really concerning to know that there

are people who develop different kinds of sickness because of
too much use of technological [Link] subcategory of
ethics will in one way or another guide people on how
technology ought to be used in order to prevent abuse and
other unfortunate results.
 It can be said that these reasons make such devices somewhat
unethical because they bring undesirable consequences to people.

The word "responsibility" in the sense of being accountable for and

accountable to is very appropriate to the ethics of technology. The
ethics of responsibility focuses on the positive rather than the
negative.

Going back to the first dilemma, it can be said that the agents using the
devices are the ones to be blamed for the undesirable consequences,
namely, laziness and unhealthiness.
 Robotics and
humanity

A great product of the innovative minds of the people is

the robot. Robots are now widely used. The
International Federation of Robotics (IFR) and
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE) made it their task to formulate a working
definition for service robots. A preliminary extract of the
relevant definition is (IFR, 2012);
• A robot is an actuated mechanism programmable in two or more
axes with a degree of autonomy.
• A service robot is a robot that performs useful tasks for humans
or equipment.
• A personal service robot or a service robot for personal use.
• A professional service robot of a service robot for professional.
2

Germany was one of the first countries to develop service robots. it

sponsored a collaborative project called DESIRE (Deutsche
Servicerobotik. Initiative-Germany Service Robotics Initiative) which
was launched on October 1, 2005.
Some of the expected work to be performed by DESIRE are the following:

1. "Clear up the kitchen table"

2. "Fill the dishwasher"
3. "Clear up this room"
2
 The earliest conception of robots can be traced around 3000 B.C. from
the Egyptians. Their water clocks used human figurines to strike the hour
bells. example, there was a wooden pigeon that could fly,a talking doll,
steam-powered robots, and hydraulically-operated statues that could
speak and gesture.
2

However, the earliest robots as people know them were created in the
early 1950s by George Devol. "Unimate" was his first invention from
the words " Universal automation".
 Roles Played by
Robotics
-Robots play different roles not only in the lives of the people
but also in the society as a whole.

*They are primarily used to ease the workload of mankind.

*They were invented to make life more efficient and less
stressful.
*On one hand, they perform complicated activities which
human beings are incapable of doing.
*On the other hand, they perform the simplest tasks at home
so that their masters can focus
*Just like people living in the society, robots also have their
own set of rules and characteristics that define what a good
robot is. These laws were formulated by Isaac Asimov back in
the 1940s, when he was thinking of the ethical consequences
of robots.
 Isaac asimov - Was an American
writer and professor of biochemistry
at Boston University. - he's also
known for being the foundation
series and robot stories.

Using Asimov's laws for robots, it can

be concluded that robots are ethical
but only if they strictly follow the
laws specified.
 These laws were formulated by Isaac Asimov back in the
1940s, when he was thinking of the ethical
consequences of robots.

These are the following (Stanford, n.d.):

Law One:
-A robot may not injure a human being or, through
inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Law Two:
-A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings
except where such orders would conflict with the First
Law.
Law Three:
-A robot must protect its own existence as long as such
protection does not conflict with the First or Second
 Ethical Dilemma/s Faced by Robotics

Just like any other technological advancements, robotics

also faces different problems and dilemmas. Although
the idea is to help people and make their lives a lot
easier than before, it is still not immune to different
ethical dilemmas and possible undesirable outcomes.

°One of the dilemmas faced by robots is safety.

°Another ethical dilemma faced by robots is the

emotional component.
 In the field of robotics, there are the so-
called:

Partial autonomy includes active human-robot

interaction

Full autonomy excludes active human-robot interaction.

Using Asimov's laws for robots, it can be concluded that

robots are ethical but only if they strictly follow the laws
specified.
 SUMMAR
Y
In modern times, there are different technological advancements in all
forms and sizes may it be inside the home, the workplace, the learning
place, or simply on the streets. It is now very accessible to almost
anyone in the world. Besides, technology is not enclosed to expensive
and high-end devices. Simple types of machines that can perform
simple task regularly can already be considered a form of
[Link], despite its usefulness and beneficial
characteristics, there are still some problems faced by the different
technological advancements. To be more specific, these problems are
ethical in nature that involve not only the machine but also mankind. It
is now impossible for technology and humanity not to cross paths
because as some would argue, technology has become a necessity for
people. At the end of the day, ethics should still be enforced in the field
of technology so as to ensure the safety and morality of these devices
to people.
THANK
YOU!