Technology, Our Down fall Or Uprising?

This is something i have been wondering about for a long time, and being 15 cant really ask many of the people around me. (they give really really bad answers). So let me ask you this, is our Intellect to creat technology our downfall or uprising? You can think of this in many diffrent ways, for one, we as humans are very physically weak, in nature with out our mind we would be done. Human babies are akward when being brought in to this world, alor can go wrong during pregnancy, something not so common in the animal world (compared to humans). Humans get hurt easily, we have no real tolerance to infection ect, Try fighting lions, or bears, they can be wounded yet will live to fight another day, humans have trouble with wounds, they are very prone to infectiong ect. Now the things that set us apart from the rest of the animals, is our mind, it saved us in our time of need, but may destroy us.

We have built things such as Nukes,Guns,Rockets ect. Along with all the good. Will this be our downfall? For some reason man is close to the only thing on earth that will kill just for the sake of killing, who shows no mercy, and is the only being on earth that can sin.

So what do you think, are we really the great a creation? Is our technology our downfall? Or our uprising?

Your question is really part of the one of the biggest questions about humanity. Are we inherently good or inherently evil. History is not kind in this respect. Humanity seems to prove over and over again that one of the most powerful attribute of humanity is the desire to kill, to destroy. This is balanced by our will to survive and achieve and to be free. There is no real answer to your question.

Technology is both a blessing and a curse, and may one day destroy is all. Technology gives us the means to prosper like never before but it also gives us the ability to destroy everything in the blink of an eye.

I agree with the above. Technology could be our downfall or our uprising. It really depends on how the human race comes together to use it. Many will use it for good and evil, even while most will wish it for only good. Technology has given us the ability for amazing ways to save the planet and us that live on it, but a natural tendency of greed has hidden and supressed so much of it. I hope that one day we will be able to embrace technology in a positive way rather than a destructive one. I'm not suggesting that many technologies don't benefit us, but there are many more that could help and we don't see.

Downfall...

I look at it like this (what follows may depress you):




All our technology, throughout our entire races history, has been designed to fulfill two purposes.

The first being, LAZINESS. We, as a species, are the laziest of all. We build all these things to do work FOR us. Just so we can sit around on our cans, which leads to purpose number two...

BOREDOM. The human race has grown so bored from sitting on thier cans that we invent new technologies to ENTERTAIN ourselves, and when we get bored with those we invent more... We are nothing but children with the hottest newest toys. (and, like you said, most of our toys are used to destroy. i my opinion, we kill & destroy to entertain and alleviate our boring existence).

We do nothing in the pursuit of knowledge & understanding, all that is just a bi-product...

Whoever said 'necessity is the mother of all invention' was a moron. (think about it, do we really NEED any of the crap we invent? of course we don't).

It is not necessity, but LAZINESS & BOREDOM that spawned invention.


Yup, downfall, one day our 'superior' technology will get bored and entertain itself, WITH US.

[edit on 10/12/2004 by Assassin]

The way I see i, Technology is just an extension of ourselves and environment.
Although animals and nature have no interest in it, they benifit and suffer for it. This all plays into a balance that is part of everything we see, eat, touch and are made of. We build an engine, it gets us to places we want to go, but it polutes and needs more fuel or gets us killed. You mentiond guns, nukes etc, we don't need these to cause harm, we can use beneficial technology to cause harm, how many uses of both good and bad uses of a claw hammer can you think of. Opening scene in "2001 Space Odassy", apes to early man discover bones to use as tools then soon after they decide to hammer one another with the bones. What matters most is, what you do with it and hope you don't cross the path of the one who chooses to miss-use it.

Google the subject "Butterfly starts hurricane" for an interesting rabbit trail.

Originally posted by T1000
Your question is really part of the one of the biggest questions about humanity. Are we inherently good or inherently evil. History is not kind in this respect. Humanity seems to prove over and over again that one of the most powerful attribute of humanity is the desire to kill, to destroy.

I feel that history has proven that there are only some people with desires to kill and destroy and the rest are nearly mindless followers. Wouldn't you agree that while most people are against killing and against war, they still support wars when their leaders want them to?

I think with the aide of technology we are creating our own successors. Most species are left by the way side when natural more fit species survive and take their place. We will design our own successors.

Creating robots and AI we are making a new species that in the future will be superior to humans in every way. They will be smarter, stronger, faster.

It is the natural culmination of artificial-intelligence, survival of the fittest

[edit on 16-10-2004 by ShadowXIX]

the greater the potential for good, the greater potential for evil. everything has a balance. the only thing keeping them apart is the use of the object

My biggest fear is that technologies are being used to erode our freedom - chip implants, cctv, dna/iris scanning - all forms of population monitoring and control.

For me the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" argument just doesn't cut it against this form of control.

zi2525,

My crystal ball�s in the shop, so I�ll wing it. My overpriced 2 cents goes like this ...

At this time there are 3 rapidly advancing technologies that have the potential to change Humanity in a major way. They are quantum computing, genetic engineering and robotics. At least 2 of these technologies alone could change the world.

Genetic engineering, for example, places God-like power in the hands of human beings. We could use it for good purposes like combating disease, producing superior foods and prolonging quality life to hundreds, even thousands, of years. On the other hand, it could lead to equally horrific consequences. A Doomsday Virus might be possible, biological warfare much more lethal than today�s could get into the wrong hands or a runaway experiment may lead to the death of thousands or millions of humans.

With quantum computing power available, along with advanced robotics, true Cyborg thinking machines are a real possibility. Under our control, this could help enrich our lives in many ways. Out of our control, though, reality could become much like The Terminator movies today. A time may come when Humans are considered obstacles, and in the way, by intelligent machines that could survive quite well on their own. Superior in every way, intelligent machines could conceivably eliminate us entirely.

These scenario�s are very possible, and could take place within the next 50-100 years.

I think Humanity will reach a dangerous crossroads in the not too distant future. If we are wise, we�ll take the road leading to a positive and wonderful world. It will be like magic compared to the world of today. If we take the other road, however, we are doomed as a species, and dark times will befall us. Possible extinction.

My personal opinion is that we will fall into the latter group. IMHO, technology is advancing much faster than our wisdom to control it. Eventually it will turn on us and be our downfall. I don�t like to take this point of view, but from all that appears evident it seems to make sense.

Let�s hope I�m wrong �

i think we need to stop making technology to encourage laziness, when something is so easily abused the weak people will lose intellectual integrity. people need to get out understand what the world and life is about, rather then having their every need catered to in some form, at this rate we will get no where fast. the very few people who know to studie hard and strive for a higher understanding of the universe will ultimatly end up with control. a few people in control is not really a good thing.

Originally posted by zi2525

So what do you think, are we really the great a creation? Is our technology our downfall? Or our uprising?

IMO...our tech. advancements are a Dynamic, neither good v bad.

there are those who consider the advanced, hi-tech USA as a 'Great Satan'
both because of the 'gadgetry' and the 'methods' used in creating and maintaining a world-wide superiority.

still others immigrate to the USA, BECAUSE of the freedom/opportunity to engage/experiment in advancing a wide range of 'gadgetry' or 'concepts'....

its a normal, natural consequence of change...that others' may view the methods of achieving change as sinister, evil, unfair, tyrannical, corrupt, elitist, ...etc & etc.

the changes in society, culture, brought about by next generation technologies, eventually advances EVERYONE...we can & should assist others to keep-up & benefit from these different life prolonging, labor saving, life enriching, beneficial changes...

but, i guess its the extent & degree of effort made to share & assist those
have-nots & left-behinds...that BECOMES ANOTHER point of contention and animosity... .... ...see ? the Dynamic keeps going on, on, on, & on....

Technology will eventually destroy man kind unless a huge natural disaster beats us to it (global warming/meteor/volanoes etc)

Certain technologies are good for good people, technologies are good for evil people.

Nukes are good for bad people.

Eventually we will have robots that can to a certain extent be programmed to have the basic instincts that we humans have, but it would be impossible to have a robot AI that could equal or preceed a human mind but it could come very close.

Now this tech could be used both in good ways and bad ways, come to think of it almost 99% of advanced technology can be used in both good/bad ways (Computers/Genetics etc)

So its 50/50 its our downfall and uprising.

But you could say its 60/40 the latter being used for good,because eventually people in high authority will use it for the use of destroying anything they want.

So thats my opinion eventually it will be our downfall.

I think that the reality is that advancements in technology are driven by commercial and military needs rather than humanitarian needs.

The military have the latest technologies. Some areas, such as transport, are decades ahead of what the civilian sector have. These technologies are only given up when the next 'breakthrough' renders the current technology 'obsolete'.

Why cure cancer and HIV/AIDS when you can make billions of dollars selling the drugs to the sufferers.

Why investigate 'free' energy when you can make trillions of dollars selling 'metered' oil, gas and electricity.

You can bet your last dollar that any advancements in AI/robotics are being made in the search of the ultimate 'killing machine'.

Is it naive of me to think that we have the technology today to make everyone on the planet comfortably fed, clothed and sheltered? Imagine what we could do if we stopped hoarding resources and technologies and actually put them to good use.

[edit on 16/10/2004 by Deckard_BR26354]

It's interesting to note that this is the one question that the Jodi Foster character in the movie "Contact" wanted to ask the aliens, or more specifically, how did they "get over the hump" of technological evolution outpacing spiritial and social evolution, because that is what is happening. Scientific advancement gives us power but most of us are not responsible enough to use it safely.

If there are other intellegent civilizations out there (and I expect there are) this may be the test that has to be passed before we can join them. Perhaps every civilization goes through this period where you have almost outgrown your own planet and have, for the first time had to face the difficulty of expanding beyond it in a meaningful way. One thing we know for sure about this issue is that it is up to us as to how we handle it. It's our problem to solve and our challange to overcome. Technology is like anything else, a two-edged sword pulled out of Pandora's Box. We just have to be careful not to cut ourselves too badly. Putting down the sword is not an option anymore. Our civilization and society has changed to the point where it's use is essential and nessisary for survival (for most of us). There is no going back.

I have sympathy with your views, Ambient Sound, but I do think that there is a very real danger that the 'elite few' will use technology in a way that prevents us 'the little people' achieving what we think is right for world over what they think is right.

The U.S. spent 400 billion dollars on their military interests last year - a large proportion of that (U.S. tax payers) money will have gone to a relatively small number of 'preferred' companies that may or may not be closely allied with the current U.S. administration. For comparison, China, a country with over 4 times the population of the U.S., spent 60 billion dollars on it's military interests.

If we all lived in peace with each other, those companies would go out of business and that money could be spent improving the world rather than destroying it.

Originally posted by Deckard_BR26354
I have sympathy with your views, Ambient Sound, but I do think that there is a very real danger that the 'elite few' will use technology in a way that prevents us 'the little people' achieving what we think is right for world over what they think is right.

If we all lived in peace with each other, those companies would go out of business and that money could be spent improving the world rather than destroying it.

Deckard, I submit it has always been this way with humans and techological advance has in most cases been driven by trying to find better ways to kill other people, or making life better for ourselves so we can concentrate on killing other people. Humans are naturally competitive creatures and usually can't help it. Now we have come to a crucial point where the tools we have are really and truely dangerous to a point beyond all previous scale. Now instead of killing our enemy or ourselves, we can kill virtually everyone. Dangerous indeed, but like I said, there is no going back. It's our problem to deal with, as sticky as it is. A lot of people will probably die while we face this challange and a lot of evil will happen, but again, that is how it has always been. I have little hope it will be any different in the immediate future.

Right now, I feel like a 'passenger' on a bus with defective brakes, that's been driven at top speed, in thick fog, on an icy road into the unknown void. I just wish I could see who the 'driver' is.

I personally do not see why everyone is so down on technology. Sometimes it gets to the point of being much to Conservative and Puritan-like in nature meaning that people get the paranoia of "Technology is bad, its the way of the Devil"...or other such drivel. Why can technological advances never be for the good of humanity? Why must we always see the evil in things?

I, for one, think technology will not destroy us. Its much like the issue of Gun Control. In the hands of a few it can be deadly, but with proper implementation of Laws it is fine.

Some people seem to have the mentality that "if we dont stop it the machines will take over and kill us" type of scenario in their heads. Why would machines want to, or have the need to kill us. I do find some technology not to be in our best interest in the hands of the government or special interest groups such as chip implants, monitoring, etc. However, upon saying that, we need to come to a point in our own humanity where Technology is equally balanced with nature. Right now, technology far exceeds what nature can handle, and we are seeing our planet destroyed by our own technology. Technological advances have obviously come to quick for humanity to deal with in a moral and proper manner that respects people and nature. Viewing the current situation this way it is easy to see why some think technology is bad or "evil".

As technology evolves, humanity must evolve as well or we WILL perish under it. If we do evolve with it then I think we won't have anything to worry about, but as it stands I can see why fear of advancement is scary to some.

Why would machines want to, or have the need to kill us.

Who knows? Seeing as we don't even know how our own human intelligence 'works', how could we possibly know what a machine would 'think'.

The term 'Artificial Intelligence' is also misleading. Is it not the case that if something exhibits intelligent behaviour then it is intelligent regardless of how that behaviour came about? Is the light in your living room intelligent? You flick the switch up and the light comes on. The flick down and the light goes out. That's intelligent behaviour, the light is complying with your request.

Science fiction is very good as raising these sort of questions - if you haven't seen it already, go and watch Blade Runner (in my opinion, the best Sci-Fi movie ever made).

[edit on 16/10/2004 by Deckard_BR26354]