Disasters, whether natural or human-made, will always take place and are uncontrollable, however what happens after disaster strikes is entirely up to us. Technology consultant Edward Tenner, in his article “Another Look Back and a Look Ahead,” presents the negative and positive paradoxical interactions between humans and technology. Tenner exemplifies this concept by providing evidence in the form of examples across a multitude of fields where our own human actions and reliance on the safety of technology actually cause disasters to happen instead. His purpose is to draw attention to the tendency that people have to blindly rely on technology in ignorance. He writes in a very straightforward tone and uses objective language to appeal to a …show more content…
This argument of Tenner’s is effective and eye opening because it relates very strongly with his audience that uses technology every day. By having this broad and relatable argument, Tenner builds on his ethos. Continuing his definition of risk, Tenner next discusses displaced risks. “Displaced risk” is found in situations where the preventative action causes more harm than the original action or tendency seen as dangerous (270). He gives an illustration to demonstrate his point: when families hear that they cannot fly in an aircraft with their child on their lap, they’d often rather drive because they either feel it’s safer or more affordable. This scenario is statistically more dangerous because aircraft crash less than cars (270). The revenge effect (people putting themselves in harm’s way, in order to avoid potential harm) is caused by the ignorant belief that a car would be safer than a plane. It’s caused by a blind faith and ignorant belief that this scenario is less dangerous based on a trust in the technology of the roadways. This example, as well as many others in the section tend to be directed at
However, people tend to use this technology to engage in more dangerous behaviors, ignoring the always-present risks. The ABS system is used by car, and it makes the brake more reliable and decrease the risk of accidents. However, “the drivers [use] the additional element of safety to enable them to drive faster and more recklessly without increasing their risk of getting into an accident” (p289). People like to use the technology in a different way, so an unexpected result always comes after. They use the technical measurement as an excuse, make it be responsible for their naive behaviors. “Why are more pedestrians killed crossing the street at marked crosswalks than at unmarked crosswalks? Because they compensate for the ‘safe’ environment of a marked crossing by being less vigilant about oncoming traffic” (p289). It is kind of a self-comforting; people create a safe environment to palsy themselves. Most of them immerse in this “safe” environment, and do not realize their dangerous behavior because they subjectively think the technology is more advanced than before, and allows them to engage hazardous behavior with absolute safe. Ironically, the fact is the inverse of what they think. As an economist says, “they ‘consumed’ the risk reduction, they didn’t save it.” (p289) As the result of doing more dangerous things, tragedy often happens. On the other hand, people should not be surprised if it
Dangers on roadways is an issue that describes the discrepancy between perception and reality of road rage. The media, for some odd reason, tends to make road rage a huge controversial issue. As seen on talk shows from Oprah Winfrey to CNN, they reveal to people that road rage could happen at any time and to always be looking over your shoulder. These talk shows and news programs also put fear into our minds by explaining that most roadragers often use guns to kill or injure their victims. Glassner contradicts the media's speculations by stating that out of approximately 250,000 people killed on roadways between 1990-1997, AAA attributed that one in one thousand was an act of road rage (pg.5).
Use of technology is expanding from day to day, more things in life are depending on machinery. Machines are meant to bring us a comfortable life, and technology is meant to enhance our living standard, yet. Half a century ago, Ray Bradbury issued an enlightenment in the short story “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rain”. In E. M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops”, a similar enlightenment is made. Both edify people that things will go wrong when technology is dominant over humanity; our dependence on technology lead people lost humanity, lead people lost control of human creation, and eventually lead humanity to devastate. The didactic works at the level of form in Bradbury, while in Forester is works at the level of content.
Technology is supposed to be seen as such an advancement and great accomplishment. What others may not always know is sometimes it isn’t all fun and games, it can be dangerous. As seen when we created the atomic bomb and guns, their only purpose is to destroy and cause pain to others. Although they are not always in use, they are a constant threat to our well being. We need to take into consideration the positives and the negatives of the technology we create today.
John Markoff's "The Doomsday Machine" is an intriguing view on how our technology may exponentially improve into the future, but the essay fails to support the thesis statement that our technology will eventually destroy the human race. His dire predictions for our future are based on theories as well as conclusions that are themselves based on theories. These predictions do not account for how other simultaneous technological advancements and the desire for profit will affect our world. It ignores the power of human imagination, ingenuity, feelings, and personal motivation. There is also a complete disregard for God's plan.
Technology while it brings many positives into this world is being used for many bad things. An example of this would be how everyone’s privacy is slowly being taken away. With cameras, everywhere and the government being able to read everyone’s text messages our common everyday privacy is no longer possible. This is a red flag for our future because it resembles the lifestyle people live in 1984. Most people do not know the danger the comes with the growth of technology. The human populations distraction from social media is preventing us from seeing the noticeable issues. I believe that with the rapid growth rise of technology comes with the subtraction of our personal privacy. In technologies push to make people feel more connected or to make life easier. Technology has actually opened us up to becoming more exposed. All the cameras, micro phones, and pictures allow for our every move as human to be monitored and tracked. In our current state, some organizations can predict peoples every move based off their phone history in certain locations. This shows what the current power of technology can do for people if presented in the wrong hands. If this trend were to continue then dangers of society could be as extreme as the government using technology to control our every move. The future of technology has a very dark future, “Decomposing this impending castopherey into its essential elements, we are being told that the dangers are involuntary (we would not be willing to accept them), irreversible (there is no turning back), and hidden (we shall not know when we are encountering them). The fear is that the effects of technology may prove disastrous. (Risk and Culture 16)” This quote shows how with technologies preoccupation of the human society that it is easy for large organizations to use it for dark purposes. Unless society becomes educated on how to properly
There is a great deal of critical influences which John Tenniel brought to the field of illustration and to explore this, one must look into his work and his life to acknowledge how this impacted on Illustration and society in general.
In today’s society technology is everywhere, whether it be in a car, on a billboard, a laptop, or even on one’s phone. However, is all this technology a bad thing or is it truly a worldwide phenomenon. Even back during 1992, author Neil Postman wrote about how technology is both a blessing and a burden. Many people believe Postman’s views are arrogant or far-fetched, but there are also those who agree with him about the dangers of technology.
In ‘The Golem at Large, What we should know about technology’ The authors’ main purpose is to show their audience that we trust technology too much and don’t take into consideration that human error occurs. Much of the world of technology, as suggested by the authors, is built on trust: “Trust that the engineers have done their job responsibly, trust that they have the right expertise to do the job properly. “ The idea that even the best intentions go wrong, and that even well designed technology can go wrong at times. They also emphasize that we tend to blame technical failure rather than the human consumption failing itself. By contrast, they chose to link technology to the golem. The golem was a creature from Jewish mythology and while not evil, is marked by a clumsy drive. Technology, at its cutting edge, will always rage with controversy, because there is no neutral place, nor a central point, in the search for responsibility and accountability of a failed technology.
In today's world, technology is constantly changing from a new paperclip to an improvement in hospital machinery. Technology lets people improve the way they live so that they can preserve their own personal energy and focus on the really important factors in life. Some people focus their energy on making new innovations to improve transportation and the health of people that may save lives and some people focus on making new designs of packaging CDS. Technology is significant in everyone's life because it rapidly changes what is in the market. But, some new innovations of technology are ridiculous because they serve no purpose in helping mankind.
...ture a risk-taking species. In ancient times we took risks just to eat. Later we took huge risks by setting out in little wooden ships to explore the earth's surface. We continued as we sought to fly, travel faster than the speed of sound and to head off into space. We rely on increasingly more complex equipment and constantly strive to design and manufacture faster and even more elaborate devices. It goes without saying that every effort is made to ensure our "safety"; to keep us from harm or danger. Every time you slide behind the wheel of your vehicle you are taking a risk. Driving is the riskiest activity in our lives. It is an inherently "unsafe" environment. The most perfect vehicles on the best designed highways on beautiful sunny days driven by fallible human beings crash into each other. The only way to drive "safely" (as we are all admonished to do!) is to learn more about the process. Learn more about your vehicle and how to maintain it; learn how to use your eyes to look far down the road; learn to spot problems before they happen; and also learn to deal with emergency situations. In most cases it's the human element that fails. After all, safe is only as safe does.
“In Memoriam A. H. H.,” a large collection of poems written by Alfred Lord Tennyson, is an extended expression of the poet's grief for the loss of his beloved friend Arthur Hallam. The poem takes the speaker on a journey that describes an individual’s struggle through the stages of grief. In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross first proposed five stages of grief which include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance in her book titled, “On Death and Dying.” Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s universal stages of grief are expressed in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “In Memoriam A. H. H.”
Terrorism and Technology It wasn’t until the morning of September 11th that America began to question just how safe we really are. As the world watched the devastation on the news, everyone was looking for comfort. However, often times when something as horrific as this happens, the ones you look to for comfort are looking back at you for comfort. Many people found what piece of mind they could, through technology, during this horrible time. The September 11 terrorist attacks have had both positive and negative impacts on the use of computers and technology.
People are often blinded by the situation in which they are in, and by their personal motives which drive them to act. Humans, by nature, have faults and vices that are potentially harmful. It is the responsibility of society to anticipate harm, whether to oneself or to others. Once dangerous patterns and habits are recognized, it is imperative to anticipate and prevent injury from reoccurring. To allow any individual to be inflicted harm forces citizens to lose trust in the government, thus unraveling the fabric of society.... ...
There is no doubt that the accomplishments made through technology are astonishing. Technology has made amazing impacts on everything from science in space to medical science to the devices we use every day that make our lives easier. People are living longer and better than ever before, but we can’t forget how to live without it. “Just because technology is there and makes something easier doesn’t mean we should rely on it so much that we can’t think for ourselves,” (Levinson).