Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The video aptly entitled Did You Know? 3.0 outlines the major advancements in today's society with a focus on changes in social environment and technology over the recent years. The advancements made not only show the success of human culture but also reveal a frightening future. The exponentially increasing sophistication of technology without equal advancements in human understanding could lead to an extremely dangerous world. The video states that it is predicted that by 2049 a computer costing $1000 will exceed the computational abilities of the entire human species. This extraordinary prediction, were it to become a reality, could easily be used to further advance every field of science, from medicine development to space travel. However, if this technology is not closely monitored, and kept distinctly as a tool for humans to use, not as a machine to replace human input and thought, great problems are bound to follow. The idea of semi-sentient machines replacing humans has abounded for years in sci-fi novels and films, however plots that were once laughable are now not only becoming plausible but very likely to mirror human progress in the coming decades. In order for the human race as we know it to continue to exist alongside such marvelous technology key elements must be remembered, as more and more things become automated for sake of convenience and cost-cutting human input and control must preside over all matters of importance. The amount of technology that is used daily and depended upon by millions of people all over the world that did not exist five or ten years ago is astounding and as computers continue to progress advancements are made faster and faster. Without any sort world-wide plateauing of technological advancement, a infinitely high improbability, the only option is to create a more aware world that realizes the potential task-oriented technology has of rendering the human useless. Advances in technology have already shown that as soon as a machine is invented to automate even the most simple of tasks humans completely forgo learning to do the task manually, relying on the machine to do the work. If too many essential tasks are left completely up to machines what will happen to the world when a mechanical error or electronic virus hits the system? People already are at a loss of what to do when the internet, or even sites such as facebook, is down, what would happen if computer-controlled cars were to fail, or automated farms were to break down? Human kind cannot afford to allow itself to completely rely on technology, for as it is too few people could exist successfully without it. As technology advances, more human-controlled methods must be remembered and retained in order to prevent the creation of dystrophy in society.
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