Hi Steemians,
Men's quest for efficacy, convenience and development have been phenomenal in the past decades. We had much improvement on Science and Technology that bound continents separated by massive seas and oceans. We are indeed in the era of GLOBALIZATION. With just a click of a mouse or a touch of the phone, information from all countries can be accessed and communication has been so easy. Indeed, science and technology paved its way to improve lives for humanity. It is all thanks to the human mind which aims to perpetuate lives.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Even if improvement is the goal, there are still harm produced by such discoveries. I'm going to cite some examples that I personally feel strong about. You might've encountered this discussion when you were still in school.
Let us start by of course the discovery that I felt started it all. Without it, the technology we see today like machines, appliances, transportation, communication, shelter and many more won't thrive to exist. This is men's discovery of FIRE. Yes, fire is one of the most important discoveries in humankind. Today, fire is easily accessible. You can produce it through a matchstick, a lighter, through a stove and many more. Scientifically, it is created when oxygen is available through a combustion process. Our ancestor used flints from stones to start a fire.
I believed fire was discovered when we were still cavemen. The control of it though was not until some millions of years ago. Fire, as we all know, gave warmth, light and a diet change because men then before learned to cook as well. Fire enabled exploration of cold places. Fire kept people together.
With the many benefits of fire, also has its harm. The discovery of it also led to destruction. We have man-induced wildfires. Lives have also been taken because of the firepower created from flames. Fire destroyed houses, neighborhoods and even villages. Fire was also a medium for sentencing and killed many people that were identified as criminals.
Our ancestors started as nomads. They were travelers and gatherers always seeking for a new place for food. Once an area is depleted, they would move on to another location. This has been the life for hundreds of years until a discovery came. This is the discovery of Agriculture.
Agriculture is the cultivation of plants and animals for a wide array of purposes but mainly food. It helped civilizations to flourish. Since, early agriculture requires a nearby water source, tribes started to expand near valleys and rivers. These people can now stay in one location rather than roam around for food. Development became progressive. Societies, towns, governments and cities were formed because of agriculture.
Agriculture gave rise to civilizations but also created war. Civilizations became territorial. People fight over arable land. It also developed some sort of a caste system wherein the poor is assigned towing the fields while the rich reap what they sow. It instigated discrimination. The once nomadic people assigned leaders, elites, peasants and slaves. Furthermore, agriculture destroyed forests. It killed the once lush lands to plant crops. After a couple of years of planting, the land becomes useless, barren and dry.
The next discovery I would like to discuss is familiar to us all. It once was a quest from the Chinese alchemist for immortality. Yes, it was discovered in accident. A serendipity just like penicillin, post-it notes and nylon. This discovery was one of the Chinese breakthroughs in history. This is the discovery of GUNPOWDER
When gunpowder was discovered, its primary role was for entertainment. Yes, the Chinese people believed in drawing away the demons with noise and gunpowder proved to be loud. Aside from this, gunpowder was also used as some sort of a propellant. Furthermore, discovery of gunpowder enabled tunneling and mining. What took hours to drill and dig a hole is just seconds after a controlled explosion.
The discovery of gunpowder spread all the continents fast. Its use and features were a remarkable feat. Unfortunately, with gunpowder also came guns, cannons, grenades, missiles and explosives. Artillery became so advanced. They all have a common goal: TO KILL. Yes, the advancement of weaponry was tantamount to the number of lives it can take. Innocent lives were taken during wars. Collateral damage was not a big deal and was not taken into considerations. Lands became target practices were ecosystems thrive. It was both the dusk and dawn of mankind in this discovery.
We have already time lapsed to how many centuries with the discoveries. Now lets move to the rather modern one. Initially, we all rely on coals for energy. Coal is a fossil fuel and were obtained for source. Factories were run by coal. Unfortunately, its environmental and health benefits were rampant. Also, COAL is getting depleted. It is considered as a non-renewable energy. People had to find for an alternative. We then developed hydro-electric, wind, geothermal and many more alternative sources of renewable energy. However, the biggest breakthrough is the discovery of NUCLEAR ENERGY.
NUCLEAR ENERGY produces clean energy at a lower cost and effort. This is due to the chemical reaction involved when atoms are split or combined. The terms associated then are nuclear fission, fusion and decay. The release of energy is so vast that nuclear energy proved to be effective. It can light up cities with minimal cost. It is renewable and is bound to last long.
We all know the famous aftermath of the discovery of nuclear. Yes, the N-game as they say. The bomb that can take away millions of lives and render an area unlivable for a long period of time due to the radioactivity. The blast radius is so massive and the explosion so strong that it can create a mushroom cloud.
It was also specially exhibited when Chernobyl underwent a meltdown. Einstein once said that after World War IV is a war of sticks and stones. It means that after a nuclear war, almost everything will vanish.
Research and development became easy. We have now state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories that could collect, observe, analyze and experiment on data easily. With this, BIOTECHNOLOGY became advanced.
With the advancement of biotechnology, hybridization is also developed. We have now Genetically Modified Organisms that helped agriculture to be sustainable. One example of this is the BT Eggplant. I know this constitutes another debate but the wonders of these species are just amazing. A plant that is resistant to pests.
Aside from plants, identification and cure of diseases became also easier. Scientists can now pinpoint where a virus or bacteria attacks a certain allele. This helps finding a cure or resistance to it. Indeed, biotechnology helped in many ways in the medicinal and horticultural fields.
When biotechnology became advanced, so is the creation of weapons of mass destruction. Yes, it is not only nuclear that we are scared of that could kill a thousand lives in just seconds. Bioweapons can cause genocide. Mad scientists can create a strain of a virus or a gas that can easily be dispersed at any means may it be wind or water to kill.
The last I'm going to discuss is really much observed as the advent of modern technology. It connected people. Access to information has never been this easy, This is centralization and wireless communication.
With the revolution of the internet, any one can access information provided by different people or entities all over the world. You can contact a person on a real-time basis with minimum lag time that is miles apart. Information are stored in a database. Centralization has been utilized always. We have collections of pictures, banks, research materials, prospectus, prototypes and many more.
With the improvement in centralizing information and communication is also the sprout of hackers like mushrooms. They will make your privacy so darn little that they will know your information with just a laptop or a cellphone. The internet also seemed to mute us. Actual social interaction also became scarce. Children now with tablets, smartphones and laptops instead of playing outside. What connected us in a sense also made some apart.
Scientific and Technological discoveries are at no fault in all these. It is the people who wanted greed, power, fame and domination that is shredding the benefits of these breakthroughs. In the wrong hands, havoc and anarchy is imminent. I am confident that these discoveries were done with the mind being aimed to betterment.
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