The journal essay was written for class on "power and change in technological society". At present, I do not hold the same views and will not reach the same conclusions. However, I present the essay in its original form without editing for opinion or structure.

Alternatives

If technology enables the world population to be fed, clothed, and sheltered properly, then why do famine and poverty exist? If famine and poverty could not be addressed by modern technology, then should society's resources be continue to be devoted to develop modern technologies? Pointedly, can we engineer, or is there technologies that can address problems such as hunger and poverty. Ashis Nandy in "The traditions of technologies" considers "alternative traditions of technologies" as a possible answer.

First, Nandy points toward influential literary works such as Mary Shelly novel depicting "Franskenstein" and Karel Capdels "robot", and political movements such as Ludits which expressed "self-doubt" and objections to modern technology. Nandy agrees that modern technology does have a major "alienating, exploitative, and dehumanizing" element.

Nandy questions the prestige modern technologies hold. Doing so he questions the work of those who work on producing the "cutting edge" technologies. Nandy notes modern technologies are not useful to individuals immediately or directly, and usually are not accessible to her/him. Nandy considers the traditional technologies sometimes used by more than "85% of the population" of Asiatic societies not as inferior, but powerful, since these are technologies that "Western technology is trying to supplement."

Individuals and agencies must consider traditional technologies as "autonomous, culturally valid, competing models of universality", by doing so we widen the area of possible solutions for problems. Modern technology or technology itself is not the full answer to human problems, to think we dangerously limit our self.