In a very world permeated by technology, a person can function more effectively if he or she is accustomed to and includes a basic understanding of technology. The next level of technological literacy within us would have a variety of advantages, for people and for society as an entire.
Improving higher cognitive process
Technological literacy prepares individuals to form well-informed choices in their role as consumers. The planet is filled with products and services that promise to create people’s lives easier, more enjoyable, more efficient, or healthier, and more and more of those products appear once a year. A technologically someone cannot know the way each new technology works, its advantages and downsides, the way to operate it, and so on, but he or she will learn enough about a few products to place it to good use or to decide on to not use it.
Americans aren’t only consumers; they’re also workers, members of families and communities, and citizens of an oversized, complex democracy. All told of those spheres, they face personal decisions that involve the event or use of technology. Maybe a local referendum on issuing bonds for the development of a brand new station is a wise use of taxpayer dollars? Does an inspiration to locate a replacement waste incinerator within several miles of one’s home pose serious health risks, as opponents of the initiative may claim? How should one react to efforts by authorities to position surveillance cameras in high-crime areas of the city? Technologically literate people are going to be far better able to address these and plenty of other technology-related questions.
Decision-making isn’t only personal. Leaders in a very kinds of sectors, including business, government, and also the media, make decisions daily that affect what others—sometimes thousands or maybe innumerable people—think and do. These individuals, specifically, will get pleasure from a substantial understanding of the character of technology, and an awareness that each technology involves trade-offs and should lead to unintended consequences. With a better level of technological literacy within the nation, people in positions of power are more likely to manage technological developments in a way that maximizes the advantages to humankind and minimizes the negative impacts. Of course, there’s no hard-and-fast line between purely personal concerns and business interests, the requirements of states, and also the needs of the state. In most cases, the private interests of everyday Americans do influence decisions by policymakers and company CEOs.
Some concrete examples can illustrate the importance of technological literacy to decision-making at the least bit levels. The following three sections present descriptions of current issues that need decision-making of some sort. The primary is that the use of car airbags relates mostly to the concerns of individual citizens. The second addresses genetically modified foods, a difficulty relevant to individuals, who must decide which foods to shop for at the grocery store; policymakers, who must take into consideration regulatory, trade, and other considerations; and therefore the biotechnology industry and farmers, the 2 groups most accountable for creating and selling such products.