Testing Your Knowledge of the Relationship between Theory and Technology Topic 4

What marked the start of the second industrial revolution?

What has been a major consequence of the development of technology?

What is the main focus of economic theory?

What is an example of a technology that has revolutionised many aspects of our lives?

What is a potential result of the misuse of technology?

What is the main focus of the economic theory that needs to be changed?

What is the main factor that has led to large scale environmental degradation?

What is the main factor that has led to economic inequality?

What is the main factor that has led to the unimaginable a few decades ago?

What is the main factor that has led to the development of technology?

The development of technology has always been reliant on theoretical science, with each stage of development requiring the collaboration of many different experts.
The second industrial revolution, which started in the late 19th century, was mainly due to the development of electricity and the transportation revolution.
The third major area where links between theoretical science and technology coexist is in computer science, where computers have revolutionised many aspects of our lives.
However, the misuse of such technologies and exploitation of scientific knowledge has led to a number of ethical and economic issues, which humanity is currently thinking about and trying to address.
Economic theory needs to shift its focus from maximising profits to investors to maximising the wellbeing of society- sustainable development.
This is because the unimaginable a few decades ago and thus we expect economies to become even more dependent on science and technology.
This has led to large scale environmental degradation and economic inequality.
The theory needs to change in order to address these problems.