The Important Effects of Science and Technology on Social Life are:
(i) Makes people more Rational and Pragmatic:
Development in science and technology of people more rational and empirical in human thought. These factors tend changed the role and position of religion, traditional ideas, and emotional outlook of the people. These have acted as instrument for transforming traditionalism into modernism and modernisation. Science and Technology makes people more rational and realistic.
(ii) Replacement of the role of Primary Groups:
Science and technology have changed the role of the primary groups. The secondary groups have now become more important. Urbanization has converted primary groups into secondary groups.
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People living in the cities do not have personal and primary relations with each other They have now secondary relations. Role of Family has changed. Joint family system has come to an end.
(iii) Mechanized way of Life:
The development in science and technology has mechanized the life of the people. These have made the people dependent on machines and more and hungrier for luxuries and comforts. People now depend upon machines more than they depend upon human beings. In this process human relations tend to become more and more mechanical.
The sense of humanitarianism, love, brotherhood, compassion and charity has got declined. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “If man goes on depending upon machines, then after sometime he will find himself reduced to machine and hence will lose all his human valour.”
(iv) Increase in Social-interactions:
Development of science and technology has also been responsible for the development of new and more efficient means of communication and transport.
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This development has increased social inter-actions amongst human beings. All societies have become closer to each other. Physical distance has lost much of its value. People sitting at far off places can easily have contacts links and ties.
It has enabled the humankind to accept the objective of globalization as well as to work for securing a free flow of goods, services, information, knowledge, technology and people across all borders of all states. The world is now sought to be developed as world society and a global village.
(v) Economic Progress:
New inventions in science and technology have introduced new techniques and means of production. The standard of living, therefore, has changed and is still changing day by day Modern societies are becoming economically advanced and prosperous.
This economic prosperity has been changing the values, ideas and ways of life of people. People are becoming more and more money-minded and the economic status is crossing the social status.
(vi) Increased Conflicts and Competitions:
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The development in Science and Technology has also introduced different types of conflicts and competitions in society. The modern industrial society is an open society living with class-stratification, and hence the traditional system of caste stratification in societies like Indian Society has been changing under its impact.
This has also increased the social mobility in modern social system. This has given rise to more and more struggles and competitions which have been leading to some complex socio-economic problems in society. Modern human individual is facing more and more frustrations, discontentment, break-up of relations and even suicides.
(vii) Social Control has become Weak and Less Effective:
Society is a web of social relation characterized by both cooperation and conflicts. However in the age of science and technology the elements of cooperation appear to be declining and the element of conflict has been getting stronger and widespread.
Modern man has been becoming more self-centered and even selfish. Each society has been now experiencing more conflicts, tensions and strains. Increased presence of violence and terrorism reflects the weakening social control and order.
In this way, we can say that in the modern age, Science and Technology have acted major factors of social change. Some of the changes coming under the impact of these have been leading to more material progress, and some of these have been creating several problems.
That is why some scholars do not look with favour upon the development of Science and Technology. Science and Technology have been demoralizing human-beings. They have placed human society 011 Atom Bombs and fear of destruction.
Man has been becoming more and more selfish, undependable, jealous and full of hatred and materialism. This is getting reflected in the new craving for spiritualism and new art of living.