My thoughts feel overwhelmed and unsettled. One whom I’ve talked with on a few different occasions and a high school class mate, Johnathan Rivas, 19, passed away December 12th, 2013 following a highspeed car accident on I-95. The impact of the crash claimed the lives of two other passengers almost immediately. The news of this incident is so surreal that its numbing. It forced me to consider the very nature of technology itself. In general, does technology benefit society or create more harm and death? Is the technological revolution helping or hurting humanity to the point of self destruction?
Lets ponder. The technological revolution began with the industrial period but picked up speed, developing faster and greater around the 1950’s, welcoming waves of new technology. Vehicles, though convenient, account for 34,000 deaths in the year 2012 alone (avg. 79 people a day). Cars make it possible for Americans to travel from home to work and wherever it is they need to go to satisfy their consumer needs- ultimately benefitting the capitalist incentives. This benefits the government through mass production and existence of the automobile industry – the same industry accountable for a ridiculous amounts of death annually and immense amounts of imported fossil fuels released daily seriously polluting our natural environment. Technology with regards to cars has become the main source of destruction against humanity and nature.
A bit different, the technology utilized to systematically produce mass amounts of food to meet growing population demand has cultivated the path towards genetically modified food. The nutrients we ingest is no longer derived from the source but rather engineered in a lab setting, employing all sorts of chemicals – that if consistently ingested – inflicts irreversible harm on the human body.
This concept of technology destroying humanity and nature is ironic because technology is often considering as an evolutionary force helping society progress, for the better. If we continue to develop and implement technology, are we bettering ourselves as a society or are we slowly self-destructing?
Rest In Peace Johnathan Rivas (1994-2013) My your soul be at ease
Psychology of a Realist 