Technology, quite obviously, is all around us. That was exemplified by the research of Michigan-born computer scientist, Bill Joy. In 1982, he co-founded Sun Microsystems and was the chief scientist until 2003. He is the author of the world-renowned article, Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us. This article articulates Joy’s worries over the development of modern technologies. This essay speaks of genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR), which are threatening to make humans an endangered species. 21st-century technologies, honestly, are dangerous. They should not be used to overpower the human populace. Joy had just begun to realize this in 1998, after a discussion with Ray Kurzweil, “the deservedly famous inventor of the first reading machine for the blind and many other amazing things”. Along with the Berkeley philosopher, John Searle, who studies consciousness, Kurzweil told the two about how the rate of improvement of technology would increase, and thus, sentient robots were in the realm of possibility. After reading an early draft of Kurzweil’s book, The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, Joy’s unease accelerated.
There is a passage in the book by the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. Joy did not agree with the seventeen-year murderous rampage that the man went on, as one of his bombs had gravely injured one of Joy’s friends, David Gelernter, who is a brilliant computer scientist. Although Joy was afraid for his life during
Promise and Peril by Ray Kurzweil is an essay about the future of technology and what benefits and risks it will present to the world. It focuses on the fields of genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics, or GNR. Kurzweil wrote this essay as a response to an article Bill Joy wrote called Why The Future Doesn't Need Us. Joy also focuses his article on the topic of GNR technologies, but writes from a pessimistic point of view, as opposed to the optimistic stance taken by Kurzweil. Joy foresees future advances and paints a portrait of a world where technology is ultimately harmful to humans and could possibly challenge the survival of our race. He introduces the concept of relinquishment, where humankind as a whole chooses to dismiss
We think of computers as being incredibly intelligent now, but actually in terms of brain power an average computer today has the intelligence of a mouse. According to Moore’s Law, computing power doubles every 18 months. In other words, it increases at an extreme rate. The rapid pace of change brings fear into the eye of a technophobe and some of today’s most eminent scientists are now warning that the evolution of technology may spell the end of humankind. Even now, the greatest threat to job creation is the increasing reliance on robotics in industrial factories. Jobs that have traditionally provided a living for millions of people are quickly being turned over to a highly efficient and cost-effective robotic
“Our phones are not accessories, but psychologically potent devices that change not just what we do but who we are.” (Turkle 2015). As the technology era is on the rise, the face-to-face talking era is on the decline. Technology now days is being used in our every day lives. Just like everything technology absolutely has pros and cons but do the cons out weigh the pros? As stated in the article: “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.” written by Sherry Turkle, she lays out how technology is affecting the people in the society. Today’s technology comes with consequences: leading us to be vulnerable, unaware and shallow.
As we progress further into the future, technology seems to have more of a grasp on our society. Which can be seen as both beneficial or damaging. We have come to a point in time were cars are starting to become autonomous from a push of a button, no longer requiring us to stay focused at the wheel. Should we entrust our lives within a man-made artificial intelligent?
Over 7,500 animals are killed in zoos because they are deemed surplus, as stated by Liz Tyson an animals rights activist. This giraffe in particular sparked a huge controversy. HIs name was Marius, he was homed at the Copenhagen Zoo and was 2 years old when the staff killed him with a bolt gun. Marius was then dissected and fed to lions in front of ongoing zoo goers. What got people fuming is that he was a healthy, young giraffe. Therefore I believe the killing of Marius should not be justified.
Noel Sharkey has warned us that “the widespread availability of service robots has resulted from several developments that allowed robots to become mobile, interactive machines” (Sharkey 358). Robots have become a necessity for people today rather than just for science fiction or manufacturing processes, but lately we wonder whether or not if it’s safe to put our faith in the hands of cold machinery. Today, robots have been known to provide care for our children and the perhaps even the elderly. They even provide service to our men in combat. However, it doesn’t change the fact that there are those who feel
With NFL Players kneeling everywhere and soldiers feeling unappreciated, our country is in shock. It all started by a player named Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, in 2016. This event persuaded numerous NFL players to continue this process. One by one, players all over the league began to protest to call attention to the issues of "racial inequalities and police brutality". With mixed reviews of this protest, I believe that kneeling during the National Anthem of the United States of America is disrespectful because it is abrasive, selfish, and hurtful. Also, I am not sure that all of those protesting in this manner know the true meaning of our national anthem or the flag that represents our freedom.
An American futurist Thomas Frey, made a prediction that robots will have taken over two billion jobs worldwide by 2030. (Gillis, p.480) In “The Robot Invasion” by Charlie Gillis, the topic of the article is how robots are becoming more apparent in people’s everyday lives. The author is skeptical about the robots that scientists have been creating to become more like people. As well as, informative of the newest products roboticists have been making, which has been to create robots to do small tasks and have human characteristics. (Gillis, C. p.477-481)
Michael Jordan once stated, “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb over it, go through it, or walk around it.” This inspirational quote motivated many to overcome adversity when challenged by it. The texts, Speak by Laurie Anderson, “Third and Final Continent” by Lahiri Lahiri, and “The Art of Resilience” by Hara Marano, all have themes similar to Jordan’s quotation. All three articles support this through symbolism, foreshadowing, and character interactions. A common theme that one must stay resilient in order to overcome challenges while also staying level-headed during the positive and negatives is shown in Speak, “The Third and Final Continent,” and “The Art of Resilience.”
In the article “Better Than Human: Why Robots Will- and Must- Take Our Jobs,” Kevin Kelly tells his audience about what is going to happen with robots in the future. He shows us how robots are beginning to be more advanced and are going to start taking jobs from humans. Kelly talks about the growth from the past century, the upcoming growth that robots will take, and how smart they are becoming.
Look around. Everyone has their faces buried into their phones, laptops, iPads, etc. Many people would say that technology is taking over in our everyday lives. I, however, beg to differ. Technology is one of the best things the human race could get their hands on. Yes it seems like everything is in “the Cloud” or everyone is tweeting, reposting, Snapchatting, and liking everything. But how I see it is, a way for people to communicate and share ideas they have with other like-minded people, accomplish papers and essays without having to go to a library because whatever device you use, has a search engine that can search any question you have. As an aspiring computer programmer, technology will always play a role in my career because someone is responsible for the software and programs that allow a computer to run, the world around us is always adapting, and without technology, where would computer programmers be? If I received the Evolve IP Cloud Scholarship, then the scholarship would be able to open so many doors for me because I would be able to afford continuing my education.
Technology is everywhere, it is involved in almost every part of our culture. It affects how we live, work, play, and most importantly learn. With technology being such a fundamental part of our lives and growing each day, it only makes sense that schools incorporate technology in the classrooms. Even though many people support the use of technology in schools, there are those that have concerns about the effectiveness of technology and whether or not it undermines education to solely prepare students for the workforce. Despite the concerns, technology is being integrated with classroom lessons daily, and proving how beneficial it is for student success.
In our ever evolving society we seem to be having a greater affinity to technical jobs and careers more integrated with our technology. It appears that we are heading into a world of Science, Technology , Engineering, and Mathematics or STEM. The STEM fields that are rapidly increasing relate to jobs that deal quite a bit with our newer technology and the creation and development of new and more efficient technologies. To compliment this increase in STEM careers, we need to focus our time, energy, and most of all capital on the lackluster STEM program in our school systems.
Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.
The utmost, overriding facet of our society has been placed in our hands, perched on a stand, and then plugged into a socket: modern technology. Today, individuals without up to date technology are christened anomalies that are late to the ‘smart era’ of smartphones, smartwatches, and smart televisions. In Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr, and Be a Gamer, Save the World by Jane McGonigal, it is made comprehensible that, as a society, we have begun to intertwine ourselves in the tangles of our electronics, which we cannot seem to relinquish. Our generation has been advancing with technology nonstop to the point where a new gadget is practically released daily. Recently, the latest technological fixation that has rapidly spread like wildfire is video streaming: whether it be video-on-demand or live, it has concurrently seized and fashioned jobs, as well as intermixed communities and individuals alike.