Technology is just a tool, so saying it's good or bad kinda misses the point. Unless of course the point is fear mongering/anthropomorphizing, then it's right on.Heineken wrote:You need a whole branch of technology just to battle the problems that technology creates.
Professor Membrane wrote: Not now son, I'm making ... TOAST!
Funny as heck! Thanks!neocone wrote:For example the newly invented magic plug.
Technology doesn't create problems. It can't, it's technology. Humans otoh create plenty of problems. They may involve technology in their problem making, but in and of itself technology is benign. Humans otoh, tend not to be.Heineken wrote:My statement wasn't fear-mongering. It was just a statement of fact.
Ever hear the phrase "unanticipated consequences"?
My thesis is that most technological achievements create at least as many problems as they solve. So many examples come to mind.
At best, all you end up doing is pushing the problem around, not solving it.
Professor Membrane wrote: Not now son, I'm making ... TOAST!
Did you get a job as VP of the Hair Splitting Department?yesplease wrote:Technology doesn't create problems. It can't, it's technology. Humans otoh create plenty of problems. They may involve technology in their problem making, but in and of itself technology is benign. Humans otoh, tend not to be. Claiming that the technological achievements create or solve any problems is more or less valid since that includes the human element, but again, the problems still aren't due to technology, they're due to people and their achievements, so to speak.
Heineken wrote: Like nuclear bombs or nuclear waste. Or CO2 emissions. Or PCBs.
No comprende. Splain, please.Ludi wrote:Those aren't technology, they're achievements.Heineken wrote: Like nuclear bombs or nuclear waste. Or CO2 emissions. Or PCBs.
Ah yes, it's all the fault of technology. Clearly if we were to resort to anarcho-primitivism w/ no technology, we wouldn't have any problems. IME in this forum, many posters love to blur lines in order to make various d00mcopian predictions.VMarcHart wrote:Did you get a job as VP of the Hair Splitting Department?
Professor Membrane wrote: Not now son, I'm making ... TOAST!
O.k. Now you're just trivializing the whole situation. Hell, I imagine that w/o arms and hands humans couldn't have done much in the way of technology, so clearly all arms and hands are to blame. So which comes first, Heineken, the arms/hands or the human?Heineken wrote:So which comes first, yesplease, the chicken or the egg?
It makes no difference.
That's the difference between...Heineken wrote:In any case, once created, many technologies or their impacts take on a life of their own that will have to be dealt with by people thousands of years from now (assuming there are people then). Like nuclear bombs or nuclear waste. Or CO2 emissions. Or PCBs. They don't sit there harmlessly, as you imply.
tech·nol·o·gy
–noun
1. the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.
Professor Membrane wrote: Not now son, I'm making ... TOAST!
Professor Membrane wrote: Not now son, I'm making ... TOAST!
Technological advances and innovation change every industry, and energy is no exception. In 2008, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) was estimating that crude oil production in 2020 would be 13.4 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) and would fall to 12.0 quads in 2030. In the most recent estimates (from EIA’s 2017 Annual Energy Outlook), 2020 production is expected to be 20.7 quads, with 22.0 quads in 2030 under baseline assumptions. The EIA also looks at other scenarios including one involving more growth from technology, which indicates that production could be even higher. The EIA’s models and personnel are top quality, and believe me no one understands the challenges of forecasting more than I do. The fact that the EIA’s models failed to capture the dramatic rise in production enabled by fracking and other technological advances illustrates just how fundamentally those advances
What must we do? by Wendell Berry
We must abandon the homeopathic delusion that the damages done by industrialization can be corrected by more industrialization.
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