"We must begin to say 'no' to
certain kinds of technology and to begin to control technological change
because we've now reached the point that technology is so powerful and so rapid
that it could destroy us unless we control it."
After
watching Future Shock, I’m mostly
glad I didn’t live in the 70’s. My first
impression was that people are crazy! Everyone
seems to be freaking out without good reason.
I am excited to see where technology takes us, not scared! I’m figuring that at least for the next few
decades we’ll be alright because to the best of my knowledge we don’t have any
Artificial Inteligence’s who have the capacity to re-create themselves either
by cloning or Frankenstein-style.
I
don’t think it’s important to stop the rapid changes in technology. I think we should be embracing them! I understand the fear, but I’d rather just
focus on the positive. The better the
technology, the better chance we have of finding a cure for cancer! The better the technology, the better chance
we’d have to make modes of transportation that won’t hurt the environment!
A quote I found in a
movie review by Bill Gordon is as follows:
“…However, the biggest mistake of the film’s
point of view is that change is a bad thing – that anything that deviates from
the norm is to be feared. It fails to take into account that society is
constantly in flux, and has been since man discovered fire or invented the
wheel. Change is normal, and nobody can say for sure whether society’s
changes are evolution or devolution…”
I
think this sums up my reactions to the movie perfectly. The future could be good, it could be bad, or
it could be just fine. To be quite brash, if we ever get to the
point where technology is destroying us, I think it will be our own
faults! If someone decides to spend
their time on an Artificial Intelligence that could kill us rather than a robot
that can perform surgery in 5 minutes, then we deserve to be destroyed!
The
movie states, “Future shock results from too much change in too short a time.” As I’ve stated earlier, I don’t think any of
this is negative. I think the movie is
making a huge deal out of something positive!!
I think everyone should just calm down and appreciate the luxuries we
can have in our life because of technology.
Please
enjoy the musical stylings of "Motion City Soundtrack. This song is called "The Future Freaks Me
Out."
Gordon, Bill. "Movie Review: Future Shock, With Orson Welles." Weird News Stories, Bizarre Video, Weird Celebrities, Odd Culture. Odd Culture. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://oddculture.com/weird-movies/movie-review-future-shock/>.
I agree with your post, for the most part. "Future Shock" seemed to me to be significantly more pessimistic than was called for, although all of this was just starting at the time. However, I do feel that some amount of caution is warranted. If we just run blindly forward, how do we know we won't run into a brick wall or off a cliff? We should, however, continue moving forward, even leaping, with our eyes open to what may come of those leaps. And I certainly agree that if we destroy ourselves with technology, it will be no one's fault but our own.
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree that if we create technology that destroys us we would deserve it. If another country, or organization, or even just an individual creates something dangerous, **they** might deserve to be destroyed by it, (still a difficult point of view for me to take) but one should not be harmed because of another's moral misstep.
ReplyDeleteThe other side of this is that one's potential to do technological wrongs should be closely monitored. One boy from Michigan actually created a nuclear reactor in his shed from lead paint clocks, materials from batteries, and radium from smoke detectors. His parents definitely should have said something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yk8dmw-hkI