Tekno

Charlie, during our discussion on the meaning of technology.

I have been tasked with describing the use of technology in my daily life. Immediately I heard this, my thinking went all Star Trek: blinking lights and futuristic wizardry, computers and 4G-enabled smartphones. Upon reflection I realised that this was taking my knee-jerk, narrow definition of technology as being gospel, so I quickly googled a definition of technology and found the following:

'technology - machinery and devices developed from scientific knowledge'

This pretty much supported my initial thoughts, but I thought I'd go past the first link on Google and dig a little deeper. I often find the etymology of a word to be helpful. An online etymology dictionary yielded this for technology. See also techno- and -logy from the same dictionary. I also found a teacher's guide that was particularly instructive.

This little bit of research lead me to reconsider my initial thoughts on technology and led me to a wider understanding of technology as relating to anything that has been used to make a job easier. Another way of putting it could be 'all tools are technologies of varying complexity.' Indeed, we see this when we talk about low and high-tech solutions to a problem. From the abacus to the supercomputer, smoke signals to satellite phones, technology has been part of the human experience for millennia. As an aside, there are other tool using animals. I leave it to you to decide whether these animals are using technology.

As with so many things, when scratching beneath the surface, a whole rabbit hole of intrigue and fascination can open up. Given the luxury of bucketfuls of time, I could wax lyrical about this seemingly simple brief indefinitely, but I haven't so I won't.    

So, already today I have used a smartphone, a kettle, a TV, a toaster, a bed, a staircase, clothing, a bowl, a spoon, glasses, a book, a PC, a plant pot, a watering can, a tin-opener, a remote control, a camera, a door, a door handle, a key etc. I think you get the point. By the widest definition of technology, ever since the first human (humanoid?) picked up a stone and used it to, well, to do anything, we have been using technology; further, our daily lives are inextricably linked with, and in a large part defined by, the technologies that surround us.

A smattering of technology.
Apart from the plant, making an entrance on the left,
I suggest that everything in this image is an example of technology.