Ever since early humans invented the hand axe, technology has increased the potential to destroy mankind. Are we sowing the seeds of our own destruction?
The Human Race has climbed the evolutionary ladder to become the dominant species on the planet Earth. Over thousands of years we have fought nature in the form of plagues, draughts, extreme weather, animals etc. And come out on top. We are unique as a species in the fact that we can fashion tools out of natural objects to solve a problem. The Darwinian theory suggests that due to our ability to out think our opponents and use our surroundings in this constructive way, we have become climbed on top of the food chain. However the Human race now enters a time of climate change, energy problems, population rise and the troubles in a turbulent middle east. The ability to invent carried us through the early stages in evolution and now the more advanced the human race becomes, the more problems arise. Just after the 19th century, there were major advances in energy, food production, medicines and quality of life. The vaccines made us live longer, the power plants heated our homes, water pipes placed under the ground increased hygiene and farming on a gigantic scale provided us with enough food to eat all year round. At this time, the advances changed the world for the better, population soared in the next 100 years to a whopping 6.6 billion. Now in the 20th century technology has become more integrated in our lives than our concern for our fellow man. Satellites orbit the earth to broadcast the latest episodes of popular TV shows to one side of the Earth, whilst thousands of children die of disease and malnutrition on the other side. Technology provides humanity with an easy solution to everything, creating traits of selfishness.
Life has become simpler and simpler with the plethora of technology at our disposal. Computers have made thousands of tedious jobs much easier and cut thousands of these jobs from people, as a result we've developed in a way that we expect everything to be done for us. This simplicity in electrical devices has created a mass market in consumer gadgets such as the Ipod. Therefore we greedily consume resources due to the power that technology grants us, more and more nations become MEDC's and use up resources to provide the people with technological luxuries they don't need. This of course creates problems for the future as there are less resources for energy and food production. Population booms out of control as people are living for longer, becoming richer and can afford to have more children. Which are being raised in a single use, selfish, disposable world. The plastics we employ are cheap and easily made, the cars we drive are large and guzzle petrol by the gallon, we travel across the globe in huge aeroplanes and use CFC producing aerosols and fridges.
Technology is of course most evident in weapons. We build better and more complex weapons to kill each other all the time. There are currently around 30,000 nuclear weapons on active service today, enough to destroy the world many times over, with horrific radioactive fallout to stop almost anything from ever living here again. Scientists in labs play with particle accelerators, which theoretically could rip holes in the universe, destroying life as we know it. Experiments into cloning and genetics are on the fringe of being put into full development, which could lead to horrific experiments and "designer babies"
However much technology is a Pandora's box of mystery and danger, I do not think that we will sow the seeds of our own destruction with it. Billions of lives have bin saved due to the inventions we have created and many more will so yet. Human beings are the only animals known to have self-awareness and emotions beyond physical needs. Therefore we've created this world of electronics and computers to reach out to other humans, to transport food and water all across the world, to tirelessly research cancers and diseases to save lives, to build machines capable of speeds only once dreamed of purely for the sake of just because we can.
Human Beings will always build dangerous weapons, fascinating machines and miraculous cures. However technology will always be subject to the way in which humanity uses it. For the moment, as the U.S Space Shuttle rockets into space purely for the sake of exploring. Human beings are always fighting the powers of nature, and technology will always be our solution to problems that seem to have no answer.
