have us humans definitely affected the future of humanity and this planet with technology? Question: humans aren't the first ones to use technology. apes have used technology. eg - weapons to crack open coconuts. beavers have used technology. eg - beaver dams., etc.......
but us humans are the first ones to move away from primitive very basic technology to create and find and invent amazing advanced technology. technology that can destroy and bend rules of nature. technology that is destroying nature so much, we are having to pull it back a bit.
i am talking about advanced technologies such as computers, internet, space travel, airplanes, mobile phones, cars, video games, heart transplant, plastic surgery, televisions, video/photo cameras, etc......
so my question is - have humans physically affected the future of humans and the future of other living things that will walk on this planet with our technology?
Answer:
Animals do not use 'technology' (any more than our ancient cave man ancestor did) .. sticks and stones picked up from the ground and used to hit or smash things is not 'technology' as we know it .. indeed it is doubtful that sticks & stones can even be called 'tools'.....
Most people would define technology as the processing or conversion of raw materials into tools and the using of those tools to achieve a specific aim .. in my view nothing before the use of fire can be called 'technology' ..
Now about the 'Rules of Nature' .. by this I assume you mean Darwinian Evolution .. well, yes, our knowledge of the Human Genome means that we can now 'bend' evolution into a different path should we wish to do so (I have no doubt that, in the same way as the East Germans used steroids to boost the advantage of the Communist era athletes, some countries, most likley China, will already have started investigating how to produce individuals to rival Einstein ..)
Have humans 'changed the planet' ? only in the short term .. if a Dinosaur Killer hit tomorrow, in less than 65 million yaers there would be no evidence that humans ever existed .. except perhaps some fossilised bones and a few bits of decomposing metal on the Moon ..
Has technology changed our future ??
Yes, for sure = technology now gives us a chance to detect and move aside the next Dinosaur Killer - and may even help us avoid the next Ice Age .. I ignore Global Warming .. a few degrees (or even 10's of degrees) that means turning up the Air conditioning anotehr notch is a lot easier to live with than an Ice Age (where we would have to learn how to live under 2 miles of Ice).
|