Gerard Ruskowski
Human ingenuity is impressive, and the things that have been created are marvelous. However, technology must be made to offset technology, a principle that has been part of America since the founders.
Better standards of living can constantly be reached through technology, but at a certain point, humans no longer rule their own actions. It is important that today’s inventions offset the problems caused by past technologies.
The ability to invent is one of the ingenuities that define the human race. It separates us from the creatures that share our planet.
The technologies we developed have helped to overcome many diseases that would have otherwise killed millions and has made a better standard of living for all those who enjoy the rewards.
Without these advancements, the world would look very different.
Huge cities that support millions, automobiles, genetically engineered foods and spaceships all are things that have come about only in the last 100 years.
The explosion of growth and inventions in recent history has led to a large increase in the population, which might not be completely good for the earth or its people.
The last 400 years have been good for humans. Starting with the Industrial Revolution, the sheer number of people has exploded.
It looks like the exponential growth rate is only going to get steeper as the population continues to grow.
By 2050, the earth’s population will reach more than 10 billion.
The earth will reach a tipping point where the natural resources can no longer support the massive amount of resources that this many people consume.
By making advanced medicines and machines that improve lives, Charles Darwin’s survival of the fittest has been taken out of the equation.
How many people can the earth support? When will it meet its maximum capacity?
Are there enough resources on the planet to sustain the massive amount of life?
Signs that the world already is filling up are seen by the evidence that humans are pushing other animals out, with one of the largest rates of extinction that the planet has seen.
The food and space needed to nourish humans is believed to have caused a massive dying off of animals at all corners of the earth.
People are unwilling to let go of technology once they have become used to the ease it presents, so the best hope for the continuation of the human race is with the science that has, in a way, doomed us.
Science must find ways to use more sustainable resources that do not threaten other animals since all life is interconnected.
The human population may reach a point where it cannot grow anymore, leading to a collapse of much that has been built.
With the hope that ways are found to make advancements more sustainable, we also must be wary as to not be consumed by technology ourselves.
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Computers, television, phones and iPods all make life easier and more enjoyable. They become more a part of us the more advanced they become.
The American population is engrossed with television and computers, which allow us to escape from the world and interact with a made-up world.
Friends and family rely more on sitting around a screen than something that allows for true interaction.
As these technologies continue to become more advanced, they will continue to take up more of our time.
It’s imaginable that computers could create a world seemingly better than the real world, but perhaps less human.
The more we become connected and entertained through devices, the less we are able to create real relationships.
We need to keep humans from losing part of their humanity by not being absorbed in things that cause people to be more connected to machines than other people.
Gerard Ruskowski is a State News guest columnist and political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore. Reach him at ruskows1@msu.edu.
