By Denisse Sarzynski
Whatever your feelings about globalization, this is not a new phenomenon, and it will continue to happen long after we are gone.
Globalization is known to be this occurrence that allows for interconnectedness in between cultures and countries, setting global trends and technological advances. While many point at the challenges and negative impact that globalization has, others argue that the benefit surpasses the drawbacks. The truth is, whatever you may think about this phenomenon, globalization is here to stay. Not because this is an organic event, but because what drives globalization is technology, and technology is not stopping anytime soon.
Technology has always been ahead of globalization. At its core, globalization is the introduction of commodities, services, investment, people, and ideas into international markets at a quick pace. But how those items, services, and ideas can reach the other side of the world if they do not have a conductor? What is more, how can we speed up this exchange and make it happen faster? Technological advances have permitted the dissemination of ideas across continents, aided in the cross-cultural implementation, and then become even more sophisticated.
Without technology, globalization would not be the phenomenon that it is. Granted, technology is also a side effect of globalization. The more these ideas are shared, the bigger the chances these ideas will grow and evolve. But then, we need systems to share those ideas, ways to make our message travel faster across continents and mind. The internet, for example, has revolutionized the way the world works. As of January 2023, there is an estimate of 8 billion people in the world, out of those at least 5.16 billion that use the internet. Think about all the ways that the internet has revolutionized its users, how it has changed the way they do business, and their daily interactions with friends and family. Technology made that possible.
But technology is not a simple event that just happens and then ceases to evolve. As the business mogul and billionaire, Elon Musk said: “People often mistake technology for a static picture. It's less like a picture and more like a movie. It's the velocity of technology innovation that matters. It's the acceleration.” Humans are looking for ways to push further with technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, or even new sources of renewable energy. What is more, Elon Musk himself it is working on brain-computer interfaces, also known as Neuralink, that will eventually be used to treat neurological disorders, will eventually make external devices like cell phones and/or computers, obsolete (at least in the way that we know them to be today.)
"Without technology, globalization would not be the phenomenon that it is."
How about 3D printing. Do you know that right now there is a company working on bone replacement and implant by using a specific form of 3D printing? Can you imagine how this technology could improve the lives of millions of people around the world? This technology that was devised around 30 years ago, today is used worldwide in a wide range of industries like medicine, car manufacturing, architecture, robotics, etc. Perhaps, in the future it could provide more sustainable ways of living, or even capable to create new tools that could make our lives easier. Who knows? The sky is the limit for 3D printing!
All of these new forms of technology were a mere dream for our ancestors, and for us, it is a reality. Today, we dream with robots that would help us clean the dishes and flying cars that will save us from traffic. Is it too far-fetched to think that perhaps our children, or our children’s children will live to drive in the sky? The connectedness that globalization provides, along with the speed that it offers, guarantees that more technology will be eventually created, and that technology will once again promote new changes and growth.