As I said in my last blog post, I have been an avid technology fan since my school days. I'm fascinated by the brilliant minds that invent, design, create and build the array of electronics that have improved our lives in recent times ...
I believe that weapons and space exploration, in my mind, are wholly unethical and I will explain why. Firstly, weapons kill people, it is as simple as that. Why are we killing each other in these horrific ways?
Aren't earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, fires and other natural disasters bad enough? Old age is a certainty of death anyway, as we are faced with the multitude of illnesses and human biological disorders that will affect our bodies, resulting in them no longer being compatible with living.
So, before I go on to space exploration, here is a conundrum:
A woman is hit by a car, the driver slams on the brakes and she is thrown into the path of a moving car coming in the opposite direction. The second car does not stop in time and the woman dies. This is clearly a freak accident.
Sure, the first driver may have been going too fast, not concentrating due to the amount of technology distracting them or even be using a mobile phone when they are not supposed to be,
But what about the second car? Would you prosecute the driver for not being able to stop in time as the woman is hurled against the bonnet at such a velocity? Probably not in this case. So, imagine that the second car is an autonomous driverless, self-driving taxi. Would you immediately banish this technology because of a human error from car/driver number one?
This is exactly what has happened to General Motors subsidiary Cruise in San Francisco, USA. Just two months after the state began allowing the picking up of paying passengers around the clock.
The programme suspension stems from a freak incident in which a human-driven vehicle hit a female pedestrian and threw her into the path of a Cruise taxi. The driverless car also hit her, stopped, and then tried to pull over, dragging her 20 feet to the kerb. Cruise cars are 100% driverless and the service was poised to expand across the USA, but have now had to retract the services (full details on Wired).
My point is that even if a second driver was involved, an emergency braking procedure may have killed the woman and thrown her further than 20 feet. You cannot blame the technology as the technology is only as good as that designed by the human. Ultimately, we are to blame as a society for now wanting to rely upon some types of electronic assistance to replace some forms of human functionality.
Coming back to Space Exploration. It is an exciting phenomenon I agree, but our resources (money, time, and brains that go into the study of space) could be better served by looking at solutions that are closer to home.
We are making things too complicated by making excuses for the relentless search for knowledge and not looking at improving the basics of human existence. The argument for any sort of exploration, be it space or the deepest parts of our oceans is that we learn more about our planet and what makes it tick.
Forget that and just look at the impact that we are all having on the actual surface of the Earth. On the one hand, we are using guided missiles to obliterate human beings and on the other, we want to learn more about our own species.
Is that not a contradiction in itself?
If you feel inspired to find out more then do call me on 07555 807700 or leave a comment below and I'll be in touch as soon as I can.