Tech

For virtually any topic, from medicine to cars, technology has undoubtedly provided ways to advance these fields in positive ways. For example, modern medicine has given humanity the ability to cure many diseases, extend human life, and in some cases improve the quality of that life. Although these are generally considered positive effects, they also lead to associated negative consequences such as the current overpopulation problem. According to the United States Census Bureau's World Population Clock, which tracks the current estimated global population, as of February 2010 there were roughly 6.8 billion people in the world. As the population continues to increase (just over a decade ago, in 1999, the United Nations reported the population as reaching 6.0 billion), a greater number of people must share limited natural resources, such as water. Likewise, technology has led to the development of automobiles, which have brought about unprecedented prosperity and mobility for many developed nations. At the same time, cars burn some of the planet's limited fossil fuels, which has sparked a contentious debate both over the depletion of these resources and the effect that the associated air pollution is having on the environment as a whole. Large advances in technology can also bring great power, which can be used in ways that either benefit or harm the human race. The most vivid example, and one that is central to questions about the future survival of the human race, is the issue of nuclear energy. Technology gave humans the ability to harness the power of the atom and develop a form of potent nuclear energy, which according to the U.S. Department of Energy's May 2009 report is "projected to supply an increasing share of the world's total energy demand." On the other hand, not all nuclear energy is designed to support life. When at the end of World War II the United States detonated atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world witnessed the birth of a destructive new force, and the Atomic Age was born. In the decades that followed, during the so-called Cold War, the former Soviet Union and the United States engaged in an arms race, both superpowers amassing enough thermonuclear weapons to blow up the world many times over, but neither firing the shot that could trigger a nuclear war and end humanity. Although the official Cold War ended in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 2006 North Korea became the latest country to conduct its first nuclear weapons test, and in 2010 the world community turned its focus to Iran's suspected development of a nuclear weapon, something that has yet to be confirmed. These two occurrences have raised the specter of nuclear war once again. Humans are social animals who need to have regular interaction with others to experience the full benefits of socialization and lead a balanced life. In June 2006 a widely reported Duke University study published in the American Sociological Review indicated that since 1985 Americans had become more socially isolated. The authors suggested that new technology such as the Internet and mobile phones, which diminish the need for in-person visits with others, had helped to bring about this isolation. This study ignited a debate about the level of social isolation in America and to what degree technology might be a part of this. To the general public, this seemed to make sense, and it resonated with the increasing number of people who worked in solitary home offices or who watched their children spend hours alone online http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=GALE%7C00000000LVZ9&documentId=GALE%7CPC3021900165&mode=view