Eric Olson, center member and professor for Philosophy here in Sheffield, just published an article in The Conversation about how technology can’t save us from ourselves. In his piece, he reflects on the social uptake of spectacular technological successes like the moon landing, and how societies uphold the subsequent, yet misleading belief, that technologies will always be able to solve our problems.
“This sense of security is unwarranted”, he writes. “Technology cannot do everything. Once an ecosystem has been completely destroyed or a species has gone extinct, nothing can bring it back. No new Apollo programme will ever enable us to raise the dead after they have turned to dust. Some things are simply impossible – not for lack of money or technical know-how, but because of the laws of nature.”
You can read his full article here.
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