There is something to be said about the decentralization impact that technology has on the existing structures in the world and its ability to change the way things work. In this article I would be quoting a few examples on the real life decentralization affects of technology.
The amount of land that’s accessible for productive purposes depends on the time it takes to travel between two corners of a particular landmass within a limited time-frame. For example, when humans didn’t have motorized vehicles, the land that was accessible for productive purposes was often that of a small village which spanned a few kms of 7-8. These villages would have limited amenities and in many cases even today have limited amenities. However with the introduction of motorized vehicles, the accessible area for productive purposes increased significantly. Most cities these days span as much as a few hundred kms because humans today have the means of transportation to venture within these huge cities in a short span of time.
After the invention of motorized vehicles, the next big technological disruption in terms of decentralization has been the internet Since the internet allows for information to flow from one corner of the world to another corner within milliseconds, it absolutely had the ability to disrupt existing world structures in a huge manner and it indeed did.
Take for example, bitcoin. World over, central banks of various countries are responsible for the circulation and flow of money but bitcoin managed to overcome such a central authority and became an independent form of currency which was not centrally controlled by any one person or any one organization. Its not just bitcoin, there are several other examples of decentralization that can be quoted in this article.
Before the internet came into existence, a few news organizations had control over the flow of information and the opinion of the masses. But with the invention of the internet and its subsequent spread all over the world, citizen journalism became increasingly popular. These days, news first appears on social media websites like Facebook and apps such as Whatsapp before it gets picked up by the larger news organizations.
People are now able to do everything from the comfort of their house. Be it ordering groceries or ordering food, there is now an app for everything. Learning has also been decentralized to a great extent. People can learn multiple languages within a month with the help of an app called DuoLingo. From complex mathematical equations to the process of making an omelette, everything can be learned from the internet. The largest library on earth is now nothing more than a collection of several decentralized internet websites.
The decentralization power of the internet is limitless and it has indeed changed the world as we know it. In the next article I would be discussing the positive aspects of such decentralization followed by an article on the negative aspects as well.
Tech Fusion 