Brittany
Our world is based on technology, or at least, it has been for a while. We worked hard to create a world where technology can live and breathe and develop. Technology should be observed and kept in check. After all, nuclear energy did bring devastation to the planet, humans and other species multiple times throughout history, sometimes intentionally, other times due to negligence and accidents.
Given that there are other ways technology could bring havoc to our world, here are some points to consider, about technology and its misuse.
Natural Misuse – Massive Pollution
Pollution is one of the worst things to have happened to our environment and planet, and is a disaster waiting to happen. Oil spills, fish dying to oil and other waste being thrown in the ocean, carbon emissions ruining the climate everywhere, not to mention local pollution of every city and people dumping waste wherever they find a steep hill or river. Things could be better, and technology is not helping in this case, when it could.Waste could be better disposed of and carbon emissions could be lowered wildly, if companies were willing to implement better technology, or rather, using it accordingly.
Economic Misuse – Profit Versus Care
Profit is what companies are interested in, for most of the time. Take mobile phone companies. They stopped delivering chargers with their phones, claiming that the chargers being gone reduces packaging and waste. While that is true for the company in question, the end-user will end up purchasing a separate charger and headphones (which are also not included anymore), and end up with more waste, both fuel for delivery and packaging. All of that could be avoided, if companies were willing to actually use technology the right way, and not find excuses to minimize their negative environmental impact on paper.
Ethical Misuse – Cameras and Online Tracking
Nowadays, every single site is tracking you and your data. Even video games are tracking you. When you end up talking to your friends about specific cars you shouldn’t be surprised to find those cars in your advertisements on social media.
Most developed countries have cameras everywhere, tracking every move. Some countries are using those cameras to create an Orwellian nightmare, tracking their citizens. This is just one of the ways technology is used unethically. If we were to bring up the meat industry, things would get really unethical really quickly.Technology has potential to be amazing and to change our world. It can also be used negatively, or rather, misused, which it often is. The industries of our world are more often focused on profit, rather than having in mind the long-term effects of their business models, effects which could very well destroy our environment, as well as culture.
The more we develop technology, the more moderation it will require.