Technological Downfalls

British-born author, Freeman Dyson, once wrote, "We can rarely see far enough ahead to know which road leads to damnation. Whoever concerns himself with big technology, either to push it forward or to stop it, is gambling in human lives." As Dyson tries to point out here, technology is just as harmful as it is beneficial. Whether the issue is reckless use or negative side effects, technology can prove unsafe.

Technological advances can sometimes lead to a digression of morals, and an increase of violence and reckless actions. In the early 1900's, Americans witnessed a severe lack of ethics due to a still popular medium of entertainment: movies. Early producers took the liberty of featuring nudity and heavy lidded female vampires or "vamps" (Bailey, Kennedy 759). This problem never disappeared, either. However, what would have shocked people to the gills in the early 1900's is merely casually glanced at by today's population. The lack of ethics caused by this invention is horrendous not only in regards to indecent exposure, but also in regards to violence. Mr. William Mastrimone, a successful U.S. playwright, uses the example of the movie, "The Basketball Diaries." He believes that this movie, in which a boy has a dream that he is killing students and teachers, shows impressionable children that violence is not wrong. In fact, he states that "When you are subjected to thousands of hours of violence, you are apt to be desensitized and not as keen on sensing that something's wrong" (Pearson, 36). In an already dangerous world, movies seem to encourage reckless actions. Another technological advance that encourages reckless behavior is the automobile. Here are some startling facts: By 1940, travel was safer by airplane than highway, even though the airplane was a very recent invention. By 1951, more people had been killed in auto accidents than in all the nation's wars to date. In fact, that same year, the one millionth American died in a motor vehicle accident (Bailey, Kennedy 756-57). Probably the best example of technology gone wrong, though, is the development of weapons since World War II. Weapons were initially invented for the protection of people's countries, but the plan backfired. Japan wielded the bomb like a child's toy when they dropped it on Pearl Harbor and we retaliated with a "they started it" attitude by dropping our newly developed H-bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Today, the whole world is walking on eggshells because there are enough nuclear weapons in storage to destroy the world many times over ("Nuclear weapons" 325). These reckless and unethical consequences of inventions are just a few examples of the negative impact of technology.

Another technological advance that has caused more problems that it has solved is the computer. From the dangers of the Internet, to the health problems they can cause, to the impersonal way in which business is done, computers have started a breakdown of our society. Recently, National Security Agency officials attempted to see how easy it would be for hackers to cripple U. S. military and civilian computer networks. They discovered that, by using software easily obtained from hacker sites on the Internet, the U. S. electric-power grid could be shut down within a matter of days (Gertz 1). The software stolen was also capable of shutting down the military's telecommunication system. Winn Schwartau, a Defense Department consultant, stated, "I think that represents the greatest threat to national security" ("Pentagon" 1). So, the invention that was supposed to be helpful and beneficial now enables people to pose a threat to national security. This is definitely not an asset. Another difficulty computers cause is health problems like back pain and eyestrain. Here's why. As computers minimize the need for manual labor, workers become less physically fit. The most strenuous activity they might encounter all day is pouring themselves a cup of coffee. So, when these same people try to make home improvements on the weekends, they often put their backs out in the attempt (Tenner168). Computers have made today's society flabby and physically unfit. Another ailment that sitting behind a computer all day causes is eyestrain. In fact, ten million Americans seek professional help for computer-related eyestrain each year (Tenner 172). Back in the days before computers, people did more manual labor (God forbid!). However, these same people also had less health problems because they were more physically fit. Also, before the invention of computers, the people who now stare at the blinding glare of a computer screen, would have been writing with a pencil on a significantly less visually abrasive piece of paper: a piece of paper that might be a business proposal. There was a time when a business deal was confirmed with a smile and a handshake. Now, Electronic Mail (E-mail) has replaced not only face to face conferences, but even telephone conversations (Tenner 180). Business has become impersonal and dissatisfying in a world where bosses might never hear their employee's voices.

If the above problems don't convince people of the negative impact of technology, perhaps the next few arguments will. Technological advances are ruining our environment. From water pollution to flooding and droughts, technology plays a major role. The major pollutants of water are radioactive wastes from uranium mining, nuclear power plants, and the industrial, medical and scientific uses of radioactive material. Most of these pollutants find their way to the water supply through runoff, often causing eutrophication. Eutrophication causes bad odors and tastes and an unattractive green scum from the abnormal growth of algae (Rise and Fall). Not only is water pollution not aesthetic, but it can also cause health problems. A disease in infants that sometimes results in death is caused by nitrates in drinking water. Cadmium, from the runoff of sludge-derived fertilizer, can cause liver and kidney damage in adults ("Water Pollution" 1). So, while new technology is invented to clean water, already existing technology is polluting it. Another water-related problem caused by technological advances is flooding. As the population booms, and people move into the cities and suburbs, structures must be built to house and employ them. Unfortunately, with the construction of apartments and high-rise buildings, water retention is lessened and the possibility of flooding is increased (Tenner 72). I, personally, have witnessed this problem. Since my house is over seventy-five years old, we do not have a sump pump. There was no reason for one, though, because there was a water retention area at the end of my street. However, the Park District felt an overwhelming need to put a park there. So, they leveled the water retention area and all but filled in the creek where the water runoff used to go. Now, almost every time we receive even a semi-heavy rainfall, my basement floods. Levees also cause problems with flooding, even though they were designed to contain it. They can't always stop the flow, however, and once the levees are overflown, they prolong flooding by keeping the water trapped in the residential areas it was built to protect (Tenner 73). Here, the technology works against what it was originally intended for. At the other end of the spectrum, technology also contributes to drought-related problems. In the 1920's, the invention of the gasoline-powered tractor encouraged dry farming. It also removed most of the topsoil, which was then picked up by the wind and blown about in the infamous Dust Bowl (Tenner 75-76). Also, as the world consumes paper products at an alarming rate, the forests must be cut down. (Despite the best efforts, recycling just isn't contributing enough.) This deforestation exposes vulnerable topsoil which again blows away, encouraging drought (Tenner 72). All the inventions that are supposed to raise living standards may be doing so. Unfortunately, they are also destroying the environment, and it's the only one we have.

That statement is commonly used when people discuss global warming. Global warming is slowly turning our planet into a veritable oven, and there's no where to go to escape it. It is caused by an overabundance of carbon dioxide in the air and it is a proven fact that it is the consequence of technology. Carbon dioxide levels are twenty five percent higher now than they were in pre-industrial times ("Pollution" 1). In pre-industrial times there were no cars, no factories, no burning of fossil fuels, no anything that could cause a dangerous rise in carbon dioxide levels. As further evidence of technology's contributions to global warming, the total amount of carbon began to decrease during the Oil Embargo of 1973 when less oil was burned (Weiner 217). The increase in the burning of oil and other fossil fuels since the 1940's has led to an increase in carbon dioxide levels of .04 percent per year. This may not sound like much, but if this continues, the polar ice caps could start to melt. If this happens, all coastal cities will disappear and the world's overall land mass will decrease ("Air Pollution" 2; "Greenhouse Effect" 1). Another danger synonymous with global warming is the depletion of the ozone layer. The ozone layer protects life on earth from the sun's ultraviolet radiation, and in the last thirty years a destruction of this layer has been occurring in Antarctica. Destruction of the ozone is caused by chlorofluorocarbons or CFC's. These chemicals are commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners, invention which almost every American owns ("Ozone Layer," Weiner 45). The depletion of the ozone layer will only aide global warming by allowing more heat into our atmosphere, and humans and their technology just aren't helping. In fact, Herman Zimmerman stated that "the balance of evidence now firmly supports an important human influence on the global climate system" ("Pollution" 1). This is not a very encouraging claim.

New technologies are invented with the best of intentions, but often times they backfire. Someone, I think it was Newton, once said that "for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction." This quote was meant to be applied to scientific law, but I think it works here as well. Whether we intend it or not, there is a good side and a bad side to everything ... and life-bettering technology is certainly no exception. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't steps people can take to reduce the extent of the consequences. For example, parents could monitor the movies that their children are watching better and also warn them that an automobile is not a toy. (Saying they are death traps, like my grandmother always states, might be going a little too far, though.) Another solution might be to encourage more car-pooling between employees. These are just a few options that could counter the problems facing technology. Most importantly, they aren't technological remedies. They are just common sense solutions.

Works Cited

"Air Pollution." CD-ROM. Funk and Wagnalls. Microsoft Encarta, 1994.

Bailey, Thomas A., Kennedy, David M. The American Pageant. Toronto: D.C. Heath

and Company, 1994.

Gertz, Bill. "Hackers Disable Military in Exercise," The Washington Times. 20 April - 26 April. 1998: 1 & 21.

"Greenhouse Effect." CD-ROM. Funk and Wagnalls. Microsoft Encarta, 1994. "Nuclear Weapons." Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed. 1983.

Pearson, Mike. "The Price American Society is Paying For Violent Films," The Washington Times. 20 April - 26 April. 1998: 36.

"Pentagon: No Key Systems Breached by Hackers." MSNBC. Online. Yahoo! 24 April 1998. dailynews.yahoo.com/headlin

"Pollution `biggest influence on climate'." The Times. Online. Newsbank. 23 April 1998. www.the-times.co.uk/news/pa

The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes. Dir. William Mason. With Blake Jones. Canada, 1971.

Tenner, Edward. Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.

"Water Pollution." CD-ROM. Funk and Wagnalls: Microsoft Encarta 1994.

Weiner, Jonathan. The Next One Hundred Years: Shaping the Fate of Our Living Earth. New York: Bantam Books, 1990.