The Problem with Relying on Technology
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Date
1998-06
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Abstract
This address will examine problems that arise when a society conies to rely on the technology of its time, and will provide support for this contention in the form of data we have recently collected about unintended effects of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). The reliance on technology results in the loss of previously accumulated knowledge because we cease to pass knowledge which has become passe. Additionally the reliance on technology convinces the general public of our ability to do any task faster, better, bigger, and to the economic advantage of some. This situation began when early humans discovered that they could manipulate nature through the domestication of plants and animals, and has continued to the present time. The feeling that humans can better nature has led to short term benefits which are likely to become long-term detriments. Although the examples of such outcomes from reliance on technology are numerous, one that is currently being examined is the effect of environmental contamination by polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), and the potential human health consequences of this contamination.
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Author Institution: Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University
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The Ohio Journal of Science. v98, n3 (June, 1998), 34-38