Chapter 11.7, Problem 1QE

Explanation of Solution

Survival without machines developed over last hundred years:

• Technology is making humans lethargic and thoughtless. Instead of trying to find the solutions manually, we rely overly on machines, computers and gadgets. There would be chaos in the society as everyone relies on computers and internet for knowledge.
• Cellphones, computers and national defence system all rely on electricity. If something major was to happen, but there is no way society would be able to survive without electricity.
• There would be no refrigerators, no telephones, and eventually no cars. Where would we be? It's difficult to imagine how much more difficult it would be to live.
• Especially in the medical sector, where advancement of technology has greatly and deeply assisted the surgeries, and treatment of the patients. There are various treatments or operations that cannot be performed without the right equipment and machines. Several diseases will become incurable due to the loss of technology. There are many people who need technology for health reasons. They would no longer have what is required for them to live.
• Books would be very rare as they have to be written down and copied by hand.
• Transportation would come to a halt with no cars and vehicles. You would need to walk everywhere as there would be no vehicles to transport humans. Man-made and natural resources, native to one place, will also become hard to transport.
• Agriculture wouldn’t exist if we had no machines, so you would need to hunt for your food. The production won’t support huge demand of the population. The growth of crops would go down. Without machines, food products would take longer to get to market.
• The dependence on technology is unavoidable because we would all like to have clean running water, healthy diet, and protection from terrible diseases, provision of power and different electronic tools for our businesses as well as other material comforts and amenities in our lives. Everything would come to a grinding halt with technology of past 100 years.
• Technology especially in the face of rapidly increasing population helps us in utilizing the Earth’s resources more efficiently. It is due to technology that human race is surviving the unprecedented population expansion and without it, the human race would have died out long ago in a global hunger.
• Infrastructure all around the world will be affected heavily. Equipment in hospitals, equipment for air traffic control, banking systems, navigation systems, computer and more gadgets will not be available for usage.
• These will no longer be any method for communication. Without mobile phones, computer or the internet, most of the communication will be gone...