Technology rules the world because it's what makes us human. It's in our very nature to develop technologies that improve our lives.

From wheel to horseshoe to engine; from flint knife to spear to firearms: human history has been defined by technological innovation. It's a powerful tool – the invention of the printing press re-shaped Western European culture, just like the digital revolution is reshaping the world today.

Even our lust for oil, the cause of many of the world's problems, is because it fuels the technologies we have become so dependant on.

Technology has determined our past and it will determine our future. And that's why it rules the world.

Read on …

Brian Greene explains why technology rules the world. He is a science writer with an all round interest in technology and its effect on our lives.