The world as we know it is ending. We’re speed writing its future with man-made technology, but how does this affect the moral fiber connecting us? In technological advancement we, as a society, are presented with incredible ethical dilemmas. We are aware that the intent in the creation of technology does not always represent the intent of its individual users or the powerful entities that monopolize them. Exploring what we know about the technology we have, and imagining the technology we’re being promised, what will the future actually look like? Using historical context, we can see how accelerated progression has affected our internal value systems. As a society, we are capable of adapting to this rapidity and accepting technological changes
…show more content…
Over 220,000 human lives were destroyed by that initial decision to engage in atomic warfare (Yamazaki). The United States, however, tends to dissociate itself from its responsibility in the amount of innocent lives affected by such a pivotal moment in our collective history. In hindsight, we can recognize the lack of humility and humanity in such an action, but we rarely acknowledge that the A-bomb wasn’t just a misunderstanding of potential, but a calculated method of winning; a claim of superiority. From that moment on, no one saw the U.S. as weak or passive, but as a force to be feared. Equipped with cutting edge technology, the country drove that fear into anyone who didn’t quite understand what made its existence possible. We, as a species, have seen the consequences of this technology, but have we learned from our most obvious mistakes in its use? Two years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in the article Atomic War or Peace, Albert Einstein himself writes, “The public, having been warned of the horrible nature of atomic warfare, has done nothing about it, and to a large extent has dismissed the warning from its consciousness” (par. 4). Einstein was extremely important to the advancement of this technology with his scientific discovery of E=mc2, which took only 40 years between discovery and bomb to exploit with questionable intention (Byrd). Einstein continues, “We are in effect making the low standards of the enemy in the last war our own for the present. Thus we are starting toward another war degraded by our own choice” (par. 12). It’s obvious from Einstein’s words that he questioned his contributions to this technology because of the potential for destruction it carried. Still, despite all of this, nuclear weapons and power are still
Over 220,000 human lives were destroyed by that initial decision to engage in atomic warfare (Yamazaki). The United States, however, tends to dissociate itself from its responsibility in the amount of innocent lives affected by such a pivotal moment in our collective history. In hindsight, we can recognize the lack of humility and humanity in such an action, but we rarely acknowledge that the A-bomb wasn’t just a misunderstanding of potential, but a calculated method of winning; a claim of superiority. From that moment on, no one saw the U.S. as weak or passive, but as a force to be feared. Equipped with cutting edge technology, the country drove that fear into anyone who didn’t quite understand what made its existence possible. We, as a species, have seen the consequences of this technology, but have we learned from our most obvious mistakes in its use? Two years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in the article Atomic War or Peace, Albert Einstein himself writes, “The public, having been warned of the horrible nature of atomic warfare, has done nothing about it, and to a large extent has dismissed the warning from its consciousness” (par. 4). Einstein was extremely important to the advancement of this technology with his scientific discovery of E=mc2, which took only 40 years between discovery and bomb to exploit with questionable intention (Byrd). Einstein continues, “We are in effect making the low standards of the enemy in the last war our own for the present. Thus we are starting toward another war degraded by our own choice” (par. 12). It’s obvious from Einstein’s words that he questioned his contributions to this technology because of the potential for destruction it carried. Still, despite all of this, nuclear weapons and power are still