People: the Biggest Problem for Technology

What's the biggest problem facing technology today? The people who use it.

Whether it's electromagnetic pulse, war, out of date attitudes, or just plain lack of time, people are both the greatest problem as well as the greatest driver of technological innovation. I've always believed that a persons greatest strengths are usually his greatest weaknesses as well. I think the same holds true for technology.

Is EMP (electromagnetic pulse) really a big threat? Uh, yeah. One nuclear weapon detonated at a very high altitude over or even close to the United States could lead to the largest loss of human life from one event that the world has ever known. Yeah, it's a big deal. Don't bother mentioning it to your favorite politician though, because, apparently there are no votes to be won fighting for a plan that could save millions of lives.

So, is EMP the biggest problem for technology? I'd have to rank it pretty high on my list. The crazy thing is that the American military is somewhat prepared for it, but even the military won't be able to save millions of lives and won't be able to rebuild the electrical grid from the ground up. The effects of such a blast would effectively alter the current state of the world and technology.

This is to say nothing of an actual nuclear war itself. That would of course be universally catastrophic unless you live on another planet.

Of course, there are other problems as well. Emerging technologies in bioscience and nanoscience could create threats of unimaginable danger. On the other hand, these technologies may very well hold the key to solving many of these problems as well.

What about the possibility that people might start to live longer than they do now? I don't mean 5 years or 10 years longer. I mean what happens if technology makes it possible for people to live 50 years longer all of a sudden. Hope you weren't counting on that inheritance, because your parents are gonna blow right through their retirement in about 10 to 20 years. Hopefully, they will still feel like working when they gain the ability to live an extra 50 years.

What really is the biggest problem facing technology today? Well, the way I see it, there are two things that could equally be considered it's greatest threat. The first would be the people who build it and use it. The second would be technology itself. Only time will tell if techonology can save the human race from technology. Or could we put it another way. Can humanity save it's technology and save itself in the process?

Well, I hope this hasn't caused you to loose any more faith in humanity or technology. I, for one, am an optimist. I have always believed in the ability of technology to overcome these problems. Why? Because technology is nothing more than an extension of humanity.

If humanity was here to blow itself up, we would have done it by now. That's not to say it can't happen, or that we should ignore the threat. I'm just saying that for at least 10,000 years good people have prevailed over bad people. How do we know this? Because we are here.

 

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Let's do something EPIC!