What about other people?

Engines not only affect our everyday lives, they also affect those of us who do the hard work day by day to keep our industries working. Ever since the first use of steam engines in the Industrial Revolution, we humans as a race have evolved technologically to unbelievable levels never before thought possible by our fore-fathers. An example; computers and computer systems have changed the way we live, and are only possible through modern technology that stems from the integration of engines into today’s society. You wouldn’t be able to be viewing this page without the evolution of computers, engines, networking and numerous other technological advances.

Another example is agriculture. The original engines (word used loosely) were organic – everything was powered by horses or oxen1. As the technology around farmers advanced, they found that the way they were harvesting crop was becoming outdated. They looked for a solution to retrieving the entire crop from a field in a smaller time; it was in the late 1920’s that they found it. The self propelled gasoline tractors emerged, cutting crop retrieval times by up to a factor of three1. This made agriculture a much easier profession and a much more efficient profession. This by itself was a leading factor in the evolution of society that forms exactly that which we are today.

What else?

As already noted on the page “Social Changes”, the industrial revolution was also an important factor of our past. Industry today is still being made more and more efficient through the change in the way our engines run. Everything we do today is affected in some way by engines, be it travelling by car or sitting at home, watching our television that is linked to the power station which is powered by some form of engine. Following this trend, it can be noted that our telephones are powered by the same way, and our beds are manufactured at a plant somewhere that required an engine to run, our houses are built from timber at bricks that required refining. These are all things taken for granted and forgotten.

We, ordinary people, have been changed, affected, our lives altered, and some would say it is for the better. Why, we look at some third world countries, and say that their lives are hard. Their problems include minimal water, funding, housing or power. The steps necessary to get from where they are to where we are include the use of engines. It is under these conclusions that I assume our past and our future have been and will continue to be affected by these machines.