Because We Can

Cars are being built lighter and faster. Reality is being replaced by a virtual world. Farmers are being told what seeds to buy and from whom, and are being manipulated to buy “terminator seeds” so are controlled in ways we cannot even grasp. When a farmer cannot even produce his own seeds, and has to buy from a company, how long will it be until the “company” has total control on food and prices?

Can we be sure that genetically modified seeds are better for us than the real thing?
Technology is already allowing us to be in touch with every one at every time. We can walk around in a bubble talking to people we cannot see, while ignoring those we can. We hold our cell phones to our ear and are blind to everything else. Is staying in touch with people making use lose touch with reality? Are we surrounding ourselves with electronic devices so much that we are dehumanizing each other? Many people feel the more we are away from nature, the higher our stress levels get, the fewer face to face conversations we have, the less sympathy we have for one and other. Children who have having problems with attention, or stress, are often helped by going to a park. Yet we live in self made cubicles when we insist on communication through machines.

We can clone our pets, and soon, each other. Do we need more people? Do we need more cats and dogs, when already every nation is euthanizing millions or allowing them to roam the streets in hunger?

We don’t want to go back to the dark ages, but simply because we can do something, does not mean we should. Are scientists and engineers going too far simply because they fear that if they don’t do it first, somebody else will? Is our easy acceptance of things that make life easier for us, only opening the doors for the inevitable robot take over? Just because we can.