HONEY LYN O. MOLATO GE5(9439) REFLECTION PAPER For many people, technology is a burden and a blessing. Both lenses put us at risk of confusing the present with the future, either by failing to envision progress or by failing to envision a world in which we are no longer present. For our own benefit and the benefit of future generations, it is up to us to find a middle ground between these two opposing ideologies. Survival and progress will require us to draw some conclusions about how new technologies, methods, and powers will affect our modern lives. In reality, a lot of the debates and articles about technology are about what the world will be like in the future, but we humans do not take any action. I have a lot of realizations after reading “Why the Future doesn’t need us?” The article that Bill Joy wrote reminds us that the decision of humans make has an effect on the outcomes they get. Thus, we can't control the consequences that come with our decisions. It makes me wonder how people are being overwhelmed about the idea of technologies bringing progress to the world without thinking about the future. Bill Joy discussed the three most powerful technologies nowadays and these are robotics which enables us to develop non-biological intelligence that is someday superior to humans, genetic engineering which will be able to reprogram our own biology, and nanotech which allows us to manipulate matter at the molecular and even atomic levels. Yes, they are really beneficial to us humans. However, Bill Joy understands that the benefits we acquire from technology should not only prevail in the current situation but also for the upcoming generations. Every aspect of life will be interconnected and automated, and technology will perform the majority of the tasks currently performed by humans or change. To be prepared and to adjust to the new reality, humans will need to understand how environmental stewardship and social justice are intertwined. We would not have reached this point without a great deal of collaboration between the fields of technology, ethical philosophy, politics, and the environment. We've got a fantastic opportunity here. It is up to us to make the most of this opportunity. Will we be able to pull it off? Or is it going to be the end of the human race? If this trend continues, we will vanish completely. The social effects of new technologies can be easily seen, but it's hard to measure or predict how they will affect people. Firstly, the robots in the future, people will let robots make more decisions for them because machine-made decisions are better than those made by humans. Eventually, the decisions that must be made to keep the system running may be so complicated that humans won't be able to make them well. By-in-by, machines will be in charge in this world. A lot of people won't be able to turn off machines because they will need them so much to get things done which is very alarming. Secondly, Nanotechnology will have a big impact on society when it comes to military applications, intellectual property issues, labor, citizengovernment relations, and more, where there’s a great chance that these will have great complications, sooner or later. Lastly, it is possible that genetic engineering adaptation will have unintended consequences; for example, releasing genetically altered organisms into the environment may result in increased human suffering, decreased wildlife conservation, and environmental devastation. People have benefited from a lot of great things that technology has done, like making progress in the medical field and speeding up the development of software. Nevertheless, it’s not just society that's being reshaped by technology; it's the very definition of what it means to be human. Additionally, it was mentioned in the article that we're driven by big money and global competition during this time, despite the massive risks. We don't consider what it would be like to live in a world created by our imaginations. I totally agree with this statement because of the actions of humans today. Personally, I agree with what Bill Joy suggested that we must have a relinquishment in terms of technology. I believe that relinquishment will simply benefit the world by significantly delaying the development of technological advances. I'm referring to the fact that whatever you could do to prevent artificial intelligence from being developed, you could also do to prevent the development of some subsequent destructive technology. It is somehow a way to minimize the risk we will face in the near future. Bill Joy represents those people who cared about the future. He is worried about the consequences we will be facing in the future if we keep doing innovations and not doing safekeeping. The main point here is, we have to choose today. Are we going to take the risk of adapting to the ever-changing world that technology brings? Or are we going to minimize the use and innovation of technology for our safety and life-long society?
