Technology and Social Evolution

tmottes

Has technology advanced faster than society's ability to use it responsibly?

jll

Technology is just an outcome of where humanity chose to put its time
and energy.
We teach science to our children from a young age.
What is the priority in our society?
23 million drug addicts in USA at last count.
Our education is not teaching our young people wisdom.

jll

About 22.5 million Americans aged 12 or older in 2004 were classified with past year substance dependence or abuse (9.4% of the population), about the same number as in 2002 and 2003. Of these, 3.4 million were classified with dependence on or abuse of both alcohol and illicit drugs, 3.9 million were dependent on or abused illicit drugs but not alcohol, and 15.2 million were dependent on or abused alcohol but not illicit drugs.

Read more: Overview of Drug Use in the United States — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0880105.html#ixzz1UtJ2ei2H

tmottes

@jil I am not sure what your comments about drugs have to do with the OP. I mean, as we learn more about genetics and particle physics, the use of that knowledge could potentially become an issue for us as a species.

pain

Sometimes it will be used responsibly and sometimes not. Not sure exactly what you're questioning.

Cinorjer

Has technology advanced faster than society's ability to use it responsibly?

Responsibly according to whose definition? We haven't even learned how to use a shovel responsibly yet, in some cases.

NOTaGangsta

Microwave is bad for you and cell phone causes cancer

Science like anything else, gets corrupted by Greed, Anger and Ignorance.

Spaceless

Mass evolution of earth into tiny particles...
An atomic bomb landed in Japan caused such a dreadful scale of damage to its land that had taken 7-8 years before it can grow something from its soil. The destructive energy of atomic bomb is far less powerful than nuclear weapon in today's mankind.

Nuclear weapon - From a high of 65,000 active weapons in 1985, there are now nearly 8,000 active nuclear warheads and more than 22,000 total nuclear warheads in the world in 2010. Many of the decommissioned weapons were simply stored or partially dismantled, not destroyed

Mountains

Has technology advanced faster than society's ability to use it responsibly?

Technology that allows us to do things like explore the moon: No

Technology that allows us to destroy the planet: Yes

sndymorn

When the first gal (or dude) figured out how to strike flint to make fire, and the fire she made spread to her neighbor's hut, she may very well have asked ," Has technology advanced further than my ability to control it?"