Topics Biology

Question Has technology gone too far. With stem-cell research, artificial intelligence, bionics, etc. has technology made or is it making humans lethargic? Will we someday not know how to do things for ourselves? With all the advancements in extending age, and overpopulation ever present, will this be the end? Do any of the past philosophers like Kant, Plato Aristotle mention technology or its outcome?

Accepted:
January 4, 2011

Comments

Interesting question! We might distinguish between the 'general public' and the 'experts.' Don't you think there will always be 'experts' driving the technological process? Always innovating, always working, always moving 'forward' (or at least moving)? Such folks will always "know how to do things" etc. -- but then maybe you're right about the general public -- ie the more passive consumers of technology -- perhaps with advancement eventually people won't need to do anything, machines and technology will do everything -- (I'm reminded of the movie Wall-E, where the humans on the space ship just floated around on chaises longues getting fatter and fatter ....) --I suppose one could imagine a scenario in which humans create machines which not only do everything but ultimately control everything and thus leave humans behind .... Hm. But would that necessarily be a bad thing, Hollywood movie ideas excepted?