This
article informed the reader about the progress of technology that people
(citizens of countries who frequently use and develop technologies) often
aren't aware of, or think about consciously as these technologies are implemented
into their life and society. Nanotechnology, Geo-engineering and Synthetic
Biology all sound extraordinarily impressive, and complex; which they are.
However, citizens (defined above) who do not directly design, build or work
with these technologies are unaware of their full impacts. Countries and
companies tend to keep a “clean” reputation by hiding the negative side effects
about technologies that they design and use. It makes me wonder, who decides
what technologies are appropriate for what uses, and why does this person (or
group of people) have the authority to make this decision? That
brings up the point of regulation and testing for social, economic and environmental
impacts and how societies should be involved in these. For example, the
majority of citizens would not know that Geo-engineering lower’s the Earth’s
temperature to reduce greenhouse gases, which will eventually decrease light
reaching Earth. The general population of technologically advanced countries
should be better informed about the impacts - both positive and negative - that
are results of these technologies.
I agree with you nanotechnology, geo-engineering, and synthetic biology all sound extremely interesting and that being said I know very little about each of these fields. You also made a good point in mentioning that businesses tend to be tight lipped with the potential negative effects of their projects. It is also interesting to think about if geo-engineering were applied to cool down the earth, almost every country would have to agree with the decision because it’s not like you can only decide to cool your area of the atmosphere. If not all nations were in agreement with each other and the project was taken on it could lead to some hard feelings especially if there were negative consequences.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you, in that cooling down the earth, you aren't just cooling a part for your country or region, but rather for everyone. That's an interesting point that I actually never considered. If there were more input on large decisions like these, the solution would probably be less harmful and more effective.
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