technology
culture

Is Technology Actually Making Things Better?

Philosophy, Cal State Fullerton
Author, The Roots of Progress
Genesis
Response
Penultimate
Finale

Jason Crawford

Author, The Roots of Progress

September 22nd, 2020
Dr. Davis lists some real and important technological risks. However, to answer the question, “is technology making things better?” we need to assess the benefits of technology as well—including the risks that technology has reduced.
The world of just a few hundred years ago was a terrible place to live. The average person got along on about $3/day—well below the poverty line. Homes had no toilets, running water, refrigerators, or electricity. Famine was common. Today, technology and industrialization have provided us with abundant food, clothes, and other goods; and well-lit, sanitary homes.
The people in that world were isolated, too. Limited to horse and sail, most people rarely traveled far outside their hometowns. With no telephone, television, or even radio, they received little news, and could not see the faces or hear the voices of friends and family far away. Nor could they listen to recorded music or go to the movies. Today the average person in a wealthy country is vastly more informed and connected, with unprecedented access to the world's art, philosophy, and culture. Ideas and commerce flow rapidly around the globe.
And despite the risks created by technology, it has also saved us from many risks. Infectious disease, from smallpox to tuberculosis to pneumonia, was once rampant, killing half of children before the age of five, and life expectancy at birth was around 30 years. Germs were finally brought under control through sanitation, vaccines, and antibiotics. Large swaths of cities burned to the ground before fire safety technology, such as London in 1666 or Chicago in 1871. Extremes of cold and heat were more deadly before good internal heating and air conditioning. Even floods, hurricanes and earthquakes kill fewer people than in the past, owing to better buildings and infrastructure, and a more robust food supply.
When technology does create new risks, it is usually new technology that counters them. When we invented the car, we inadvertently invented the car crash. We countered it with seat belts, airbags, traffic lights, divided highways, and driver education. When we introduced X-ray imaging, we also introduced radiation burns and cancer risk. We countered that by limiting X-rays to medical necessity, minimizing exposure, and using shielding. Similarly, technology can help us control the climate, make AI safe, and improve privacy.
On balance, technology has clearly made us better off. The medieval peasant, burning the last of his coal to keep from freezing, who has just lost his crops to blight, whose home has been ravaged by war, and whose infant has died of cholera, would laugh at modern concerns and would gladly change places with any of us.
All that said, I agree with the statement that “we’re becoming more powerful but not more wise”, and this is indeed one of the things I worry about the most. Helping society become more wise is exactly what philosophers are here for—so I would love to hear Dr. Davis's thoughts on how we can get wiser, faster. We need it.
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