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Bradley

I’m very glad I live in the time period in which I do.  I have indoor plumbing, electricity, and Google at my fingertips.  But when you really think about, I’m sure if you could ask Alexander Hamilton if he liked the time in which he lived, he would probably say yes as well.  (Probably because he doesn’t know any better)  Though something as technical as 802.11N has made life more convenient for us, technological innovations of mixed significance have progressed along throughout history.

Now that we have iPhones and other media all in our hands, we need to be careful not to forget about people.  There will be many that go hungry tonight that live on the streets, despite the fact that if we wanted to, we could bring everyone in off the streets and even pay for “rehabilitation” of some sort.  Basically, I think it’s astounding that a piece of technology like the iPhone and poverty can coexist in today’s world.  I mean, it’s 2008 for crying out loud!  Obviously there isn’t anything intrinsically evil about new/cool technology, it just feels like with every step technology makes, we end up distancing ourselves from the burden of having to care about people.

Well, now that I’ve alienated all iPhone users, I feel I should explain a bit better.  Technology has accomplished many great tasks and by and large has made life “easier” for us.  Levi Strauss gave us riveted blue jeans, NASA gave us freeze dried food and Velcro, and another genius gave us this.  I’m glad we have people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates around, but we need to be careful what we spend our money on, and not get caught up in “stuff” that ends up running out of battery power and collecting dust.  Technology has brought many great things to the world, but it’s up to us to remember that only people matter.

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Edward

It may seem like a basic assumption, technology comes with responsibility, but unfortunately I don’t think many people make that connection. For example, it has taken more than a decade since the introduction of the cell phone to develop any sense of appropriate use or etiquette (and we haven’t come that far). So what happens when technologies such as human cloning or genetic manipulation get thrown out as the panacea to the world’s problems? How about this one; better technology, not life style changes, is the answer to global warming?

These are questions/statements people make all of the time, routinely without an afterthought. But let’s go back to the cell phone. The butterfly effect (not the lame movie but the scientific theory) of cell phone technology has been immeasurable for both good and bad; people who were once unable to participate in the global economy because geographical barriers now have mobile proximity to markets. Conversely, would be menaces to society now have ease access to networks, information and capital to bring whatever harm they intend to a much broader swath of the worlds people.

Technology inherently is neither good nor evil. It is neutral, but without responsibility has the potential to do exponentially more harm than good. The Manhattan Project is the prime example here, however, with responsibility technology can catalyze the process to bring a better future to the world; the flu vaccine or dwarf wheat. The fundamental point being; no new technology can be introduced without a ripple in the pond, or put another way without unintended consequences. Can we manage those to a minimum or will technology take us places we never wanted to go?

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