As civilization has advanced over the years, technology has become a factor that humanity relies on more and more for the collection and production of knowledge. Human’s dependability on technology has advanced to the point that the ability and skill of using technology is a social mandate. The technology created by humanity has facilitated calculations, preservation, economic production, meteorological predictions, and most importantly communication between people that by other means would have had a difficult time connecting. In history and the arts, technology is used not only for the communication and interpretation of knowledge but is also used to preserve, document, and recover knowledge from the past. History is the comparative study of past events to the global setting and the zeitgeist of a time period in which knowledge comes from both the details of the event and the interpretation of the event’s historical role. The arts are the expression of creative skill through a visual or auditory means that creates knowledge through the production of both entertainment and meaning. The rise of technology and the improvement of technology has allowed for the production of knowledge in both of these areas of knowledge to flourish.
In the study of history, technology has been able to preserve artifacts and texts from the past and made them widely available to humanity. The creation of the internet, cameras, photocopying machines, and preservation chambers have allowed for the ability to study to artifacts and texts from anywhere in the world and at any time. The production and recording of production of historical knowledge rely heavily on technology as both a platform and tool. In the fifth grade I watched a documentary in class that told the story of Ötzi, a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived between 3400 and 3100 BCE. To date he is Europe’s oldest known natural human mummy, and has offered archeologists an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans. With the technology that existed at the time of discovery, scientists and historians were able to preserve the mummy and are still able to study it today. The ability to scan the body for scientific reasons, and repair and preserve the clothing and items on Ötzi allow for the uncovering and production of knowledge about the Copper Age in Europe to still be made thirty years after the discovery of the body. Additionally, with the use of modern computer programs and 3D printing technology, copies of the mummy can be reproduced all over the world so that researches can study the mummy without having to visit the original. Without technology, this historic and scientific discovery would have not been possible.
Although technology has greatly facilitated the production of historical knowledge, it has led to the destruction and end of many cultural practices and traditions. The internet has created a platform that can store data on places and cultures that previously would have not been, but at the same time has led to some historical stories to disappear. For example, their currently lots of dialects that are going extinct around the world due to the inability of the speakers to use technology in order to leave a historical footprint. Most older people find it difficult to use technology especially those who have never used it. This is also the case for Amadeo Garcia García who is the last man in the world to speak Taushiro, the language of a community that never had contact with technology or modern society due to being located deep within the Amazon. Recently, the New York times discovered Amadeo Garcia and his language thanks to a correspondent hearing about it by mouth. Amadeo hasn’t been able to have a conversation in Taushiro due to the language not being passed on to future generations, but he dreams to preserve his language and his culture. But due to his age and his economic situation he isn’t able to talk with anyone to begin an effort to preserve his language. The NY Times believes that after Amadeo Garcia dies so will Taushiro. The improvement in technology to advance historical knowledge will possibly come in the future when most generations are familiar with how to use technology to share with the global community.