I wanted to pose a question at the end of the semester that we never really talked about in class, even though it has a lot to do with technology. Hopefully it will also give an easy opportunity for posts before they’re due.
Movies have portrayed the end of the world coming about due to the advancement of technology. Normally they have something to do with machinces becoming super intelligent and fighting back. But there are also cases in which it was not a machine making descisions, but humans using obedient technology. Think about the cold war and how close the world was to total destruction by means of nuclear weapons being fired from both sides. So technology can help extend possibilities, but sometimes those possibilities lead to destruction. So i guess the question is this-
WHen you think about the new weapons we are inventing and human nature (which seems to always create fights and wars with other peoples), and then you also think about the scenarios presented by movies like THE TERMINATOR and THE MATRIX where machines become smart and take over, do you think that the technology we invent will ulimately lead to our own destruction?
Danielle Bracken | 05-Dec-06 at 10:48 pm | Permalink
I don’t think that technology will lead to our destruction like it is portrayed in the movies. I think that we as a people are greedy and will never be satisfied with what we have, it is in our nature to strive for more and the best. I think that in the future technology will be so advanced that we will not cherish human contact as much if at all and our lives will be completely obsessed with every form of technology and there won’t be very much human nature or work left. But I think as long as we keep developing weapons and other ways of mass destruction, somehow we will find ways to work around them, so the world will not end in complete destruction or takeover by the machines like in the movies.
Victoria Trieu | 05-Dec-06 at 11:24 pm | Permalink
I think our destruction will more likely come from the destruction of humanity caused by ourselves. Just as Danielle says, technology just keeps enveloping us into this world that is not natural to us. More and more is being taken advantage of, and we keep losing sight of humanity.
I don’t think that technology in the sense of weapons will destroy us. At least right now to me it seems further away. We seem to even have technology to protect us from technology. It just seems that so far, we have a pretty responsible mentality, but who knows what is going on in some guy’s basement.
Patrick Morrissey | 06-Dec-06 at 12:08 am | Permalink
I do not believe that technology will necessarily lead to the destruction of humanity. I understand that problems arise when technology falls into the hands of ill intentioned individuals, however it should not stop the expansion of new ideas. If mankind ceased the development of technology I think it would disadvantage people across the world. New tools, faster computers, new methods of communication, and new forms of medicine would never become a reality. We need to continue to advancement of technology so that society continues to flourish.
Ryan Dixon | 06-Dec-06 at 11:05 am | Permalink
Ihate to sound like a broken record - but I also do not believe that the advancement of technology will lead to the destruction of mankind. I believe that it is by human decision making and choices that affect everything, including destruction. People follow their ideals and beliefs, machines do not. And if machines did follow beliefs, it would be beliefs fabricated by the human mind. Furthermore, concerning the thought of risk-reward when it comes to technology: I believe, like Patrick says, that if we stopped the advancement of technology, it would disadvantage people.
Cristina Del Real | 06-Dec-06 at 1:18 pm | Permalink
Technology will not be the cause of the end of the world. Humans are the ones responsible for creating and using the technology. Technology destroying the world would be like sayint that the gun killed the person. Guns don’t kill, people kill. Likewise, technology will not destroy, humans will.
Kenneth Sullivan | 06-Dec-06 at 2:15 pm | Permalink
I think technology leading to our ultimate demise is a high possibility. Technology could flourish to the point where a single bomb could take out an entire country or even a continent. It would only take one person with a lot of power to decide to destroy a continent. By the time the bomb was on its way, the other country would have sent one right back, and just like that half the world is blown up. This seems like a long way off in the future but I think it is entirely possible. We have seen what can happen when “evil” people have power such as Hitler. Imagine a Hitler one-hundred years from now with the capabilities of blowing up a continent. Ultimately it will be the human who makes the decision, but it will be technology that allows that decision to destroy a large area.
Daniel Fahey | 06-Dec-06 at 4:07 pm | Permalink
Technology could definitely lead to the destruction of humanity, though most likely not directly. Humans will ultimately cause the end of all things through technology. I think it’ll be more of a pollution thing, though, and not machines taking over. The more advanced our technology becomes the more natural resources we’ll exhaust. Hopefully, all technology in the future is equipped to coexist peacefully with the environment. Actually, most new technological ideas that get pursued most likely take into account the environment. However, there still are older technologies that are drying up our resources rather quickly. Hopefully some new ideas come about that can replace the older ways.
Kristina Hughes | 06-Dec-06 at 4:49 pm | Permalink
First of all, I think considering technology merely as the nuclear weapons that man creates is short-sited. Technology includes the internet, a digital camera, a cell phone, our language; it is so much more than destructive weapons. What will ultimately lead to out own destruction will be ourselves, the human will to use such nucealr power against other beings of human nature. Technology does not have the capacity to care, technology does not make the decision to engage in nucealr war; humans do.
Lindsey Schwartz | 06-Dec-06 at 7:28 pm | Permalink
I agree with Cristina, I think that if technology is related to our destruction, it is definitely the result of humans. I always have wondered if one day someone or some country might decide to use their weapons like this - after all there are plenty of nuclear weapons to destroy the world over and over again.I think it’s possible that nuclear weapons will destroy the world, but I also think it’s possible that pollution and other environmental issues may occur first.
Kevin K. Hong | 06-Dec-06 at 7:58 pm | Permalink
Ultimately, the human race will cease to exist; there’s no question about that. What we don’t know is when it will occur or the means that will make it happen. I believe that technology will, in one way or another, be involved in the demise of the human race.
However, it seems quite odd that a computer system would actually WANT to destroy the human race. The computers of today do things because we want them to; they are tools. Even if a computer system becomes “self-aware”, as it does in THE TERMINATOR and THE MATRIX, what motivation would it have to wage war our an entire civilization? Wars are fought over political differences, ownership of certain entities, and other things of that nature. Wars have a way of bringing out hatred and hostility, some of the worst emotions/feelings the human race is capable of.
Even if we were to create an AI system that were to be completely independent with nothing to keep it in check, I doubt that it would have any of the “negative” emotions that human beings have. When designing something new, we want it to be a close to perfection as possible. “Negative” emotions/feelings such as greed, hatred, sadness, envy, and the list goes on and one, are faults that we have as humans. Why would a programmer put in our imperfections into a new system?
The human race will be destroyed one day, but not because a computer triggered it. Technology may be the means of our destruction, but it certainly will not choose to be.
Erin Hogan | 06-Dec-06 at 8:26 pm | Permalink
I agree with Lindsey in that the end of humanity is more likely to end from pollution, rather than a war. Obviously, with the creation of new technology, we are also destroying our environment. And then ironically, we are tryring to create more technology, like hybrid cars, to reduce the levels of pollution. I think that technology might destroy humans ability to exist for those reasons, not because of huge bombs.
Furthermore, I disagree with Danielle’s belief that we will come to a point where we no longer cherish human contact because we are so obsessed with technology. I have more faith in humanity. I think that part of the reason for advancements in technology stems from a desire for more communication. That’s just not the part of technology that is usually noticed. I don’t think that people are so greedy to a point of destruction. If that were true, then it would have happened already.
Kyle Padera | 06-Dec-06 at 10:23 pm | Permalink
Technology today has become so prevalent in our lives that it is hard to consider the end of humanity falling at the hands of it (technology). It is true that during war technology has undoubtedly increased killing rates and casualties. The atomic bomb is a prime example as a turning point in world events, some people argue that if the United States had not utilized the bomb the outcome of the war would have differed. This example makes me think that when apocalypse does ensue it will be at the hands of humans. I think technology will catalyze our efforts to destroy eachother, but I really don’t think it will happen anytime soon. I do not forecase a world war 3 but I think it is entirely plausible to think that humans will destroy eachother. When the world has cowboy presidents anything is possible.
Rickin Shah | 06-Dec-06 at 10:36 pm | Permalink
i understand what Christina is saying and i agree with it to a certain extent. I do beleive that people kill people, but they use technology as a way to do it. Technology 100 years ago wasn’t powerful enough to destroy entire countries. The invention of tanks and automatic weapons helps to win battles but now we’re at a point where multiple countries have the power to push a button and destroy land masses of people. Sure people are the ones pressing that button but it is due to the creation of new technology that they even have the option to push that button is there. I think the human drive to push the limits of technology are endless and feel there is a good chance that technology(as a result of human decision) will end life.
Nicholas Marino | 06-Dec-06 at 11:42 pm | Permalink
I liked the question you brought up because I have wondered about it too. I believe that humans will ultimately cause their own destruction. However, humans are becoming so reliant on technology and in the future they will probably even more reliant on it that for sure technology will play a roll in the descruction. I don’t see machines taking over like T2 but I do see something crazy like nuclear war happening.
stephanie hernandez | 06-Dec-06 at 11:53 pm | Permalink
I don’t think technology itself will be our destruction, but, our attachment to it will. We have become so absorbed by it, it even seems as though we cannot function correctly without it. Have you ever stopped to think how many times a day we use it? Technology is all over the place, and it’s basically cutting off our need to make contact with the exterior world, even for the most rudimentary things. Take a computer for example, it gives us so many options, online shopping and so forth, that you wonder if there will be need for malls in a near future. As I said before, the mere idea of technology will not kill us, but our dependence on it will.
Teresa Hernandez | 07-Dec-06 at 12:10 pm | Permalink
I don’t think that the destruction of humanity will occur because of technolgy. Rather, I think that our ultimate destruction will be the fault of humanity itself. I’m holding to what I’ve stated in earlier posts and comments that technology has the limits that we place on it. Computers don’t think for themselves, they perform the operations that we program them to perform. Machines are not capable of going beyond what they are meant to do because they don’t have their own minds to give them free will. On the other hand, human beings are capable of anything and there is no way of knowing the limitations that people have. There are many people in this world that have no conscience and want to cause harm to others, and in many cases it is impossible to tell who they are unless they are caught. I think the last thing we need to be worrying about is machines when there are people in other countries who would love nothing more than to see us die. Essentially, I think there is no greater threat to man than man himself.
William Lee | 07-Dec-06 at 1:47 pm | Permalink
I think it is conceivable that technology could overtake humans in the future. However, I believe that it would have to start by a slip up by humans. I do believe that what we create, we have the means to control as long as we proceed cautiously. Movies like Terminator and Matrix all present scary ideas, but I believe that you can see in the movies that its carelessness by humans that lead to their downfall. I’m sure that as technology advances further, we should be able to continue to maintain a sense of control as long as we put thought into it. Then again, sometimes technology has gotten so advance that maybe we really don’t have control to begin with.
Daniel Worst | 07-Dec-06 at 1:59 pm | Permalink
I have thought about this some and I think that the technology we create will never rise up and destroy humanity. Without humanity there will be no technology. How would the technology continue to opperate without humans. The only thing that is concerning is that some technology created will be used by other people to harm humanity. I still don’t know that that will ever happen because the people who try to harm humanity might be afraid to die as well. This is an interesting topic however.
Jeff Chwa | 07-Dec-06 at 6:01 pm | Permalink
When thinking how the world could possibly end, I thought about bioterrorism and how some type of biochemical agent could just sweep the world and wipe out all living creatures. With the ongoing research being done, scientists are discovering more and more things that can help save people, but also things that can hurt people. I feel like something like a disease could easily be transmittable from person to person and spread very fast. This of course would be due to humans and not the technology itself creating such a toxic agent.
Charlotte Miles | 07-Dec-06 at 6:04 pm | Permalink
You know, the very last story we read about the metahumans kind of displays this problem. If we create something that we can’t control (like not being able to communicate and understand the metahumans), then it could become a problem. But as the article outlined, there is no worries because that technology was created by humans no smarter then us. I don’t agree with this article because if the metahuman race wanted to create something to get rid of “normal” people, they could. It could already have been created and we don’t realize it because we aren’t even smart enough to realize what it is doing (this sounds so pessimistic). We could lead to our own down fall, just by going over our own heads in technology.
Miguel Guzman | 07-Dec-06 at 8:06 pm | Permalink
I think that technology will not take over our lives. However I think is going to get to the point that the only thing we will have to work on and do would be to maintain the machines that we have created. I think that the fact that we are trying to have the best of everything we won’t ever let machines take over because we will keep improving.
Christopher Lauschke | 07-Dec-06 at 8:18 pm | Permalink
Jeff brought up something i hadn’t considered when i first posed the question. Certain technologies that we are heading into with great furver right now could accidentily lead us down a dangerous path. We are usign bio-technology to engineer new cures to diseases and super crops designed to flourish in less than premium conditions. We introduce these new drugs and plants into the general public with little information on long-term effects. With these new species mixing with the natural environment, nothing could be done if something goes wrong in the future. THis life saving, yet natural environment altering, technology could actually lead to world-wide food disease or food shortage. I guess this raises a whole new question about bio-technology that we have no time to talk about.
Kenneth Sullivan | 07-Dec-06 at 11:31 pm | Permalink
Well I have a little time to talk about the bio-technology you bring up. It seems that people are going to be able to live a lot longer in the coming years. We will be able to recap cells so the signs and effects of aging will not take place until much later. Although there is enough food to feed everyone in the world, people are still starving. We do not employ our resources in a way that allows everyone to eat. This is more of an economical issue, the fact that we cannot satisfy all of our insatiable wants, so which needs do we satisfy. Obviously people look out for number one, but once past that we should have the technology to develop more crops and the resources to spread them out better.