Machines and technology have always been apart of our generations lives. The baby boomers have been introduced to it and now generations grow up with it and are becoming even more intertwined with it. Even as a little toddler we are effected by technology. As a toddler you are conditioned to enjoy it, use it, and to live with it. The most prominent example in everyone's case is a vehicle.
As a baby generally you are conditioned to cars very well especially in the case of most boys. No the baby not be aloud to drive the car by any means however what do we buy our children? We buy them power wheels. We buy them matchbox cars or the new Barbie Corvette. Next in the child's development they begin to discover professions, and watch TV and be able to understand it. For example "Cars" the series of movies about cars who can actually talk to one another, which has even produced spin offs like "Planes".Then as the child gets a little older you might introduce them to bicycles or possibly if they have excelled with that a motorbike or ATV. No it's not exactly like a car, however it makes the child think of freedom. Being free to roam the fields or woods. Then as the child becomes a teenager and begins to be around cars, and start to drive, get there permit, and then their license they plan their lives around cars. They learn about the economy, prices of gas, how far a tank of gas can go. They must learn budgeting of sorts, especially if they are attending school and are required to work to pay for their own gas. Most kids want their "dream machine", they aren't really conscientious about how much it costs, what kind of gas mileage it gets, or how efficient it is. They want the cool vehicle, the in-style vehicle. Manufacturers have taken to this kind of technological dialogue and have pointed it to their advantage. There are on average 50-60 million cars made in the US every year compared to the nearly 1 billion cars made in the world.
Not everyone drives though, they might catch a ride from a friend, ride the bus, the subway, or maybe even bike to work, which is all still of course a technological advance. The U.S. however has about 256 million vehicles for its only 202 million drivers. In the chart below it shows the amount of vehicles per type in the United States in 2012.
So this many vehicles on the road along with the amount of people that will begin driving in the near future can only mean one thing. More cars will be made to exceed the amount of people to car ratio we have. But it also leads to some negative externalities. (An externality is a cost or benefit that results from an activity or transaction that affects an other wise uninvolved party who did not choose to participate.) Some examples of negative externalities include car crashes and pollution. Vehicle pollution accounts for nearly 27% of the CO output in the United States. What happens if we add more cars? The % will increase. Car crashes are also another negative thing that happens from driving a vehicle. There are over 5.5 million car crashes in a year. Which leads to over 36,000 deaths per year. Human deaths are only one part of the equation however. There are also a large amount of other animal deaths due to vehicle accidents, many of which go un-reported. A very interesting site to check out on vehicle accident statistics is "http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/transportation/motor_vehicle_accidents_and_fatalities.html"
So what should you take out of reading this blog about the dialogue of technology? Just because technology is something we have become accustomed to doensn't mean its a good thing for everyone. And just because I used vehicles as the example here doesnt mean you can forget about cell phones, computers, and any other form of technology whether an actual piece of machinery or the technology of your mind and thinking about all these processes. We as the human race are evolving. Morphing technology into every aspect of our lives. What will become of our future generations? More importantly what is to become of the state of our planet?
I really liked you observation of how the youth are "morphed" in to these car- loving individuals. I totally agree with you that it starts out with us when we are young and then gets worse [in the sense that we, when we are teens, become less aware of the financial and environmental consequences]. I found it interesting that the % of Pickup operation was higher than the rest. When I think of a pickup I think of a gas-guzzler and even though it is the cool car to drive it is financial, in my opinion, a complete waste of money. I was expecting there to be a higher %of fuel efficient and/or SUV, but that might be what they mean by Mid-Range Car -Standard. I liked the video. It was kind out scary to think that humans were the ones who initially programed that robot and then it turned around and attacked back; reminds me a lot of "I,Robot".
I really liked you observation of how the youth are "morphed" in to these car- loving individuals. I totally agree with you that it starts out with us when we are young and then gets worse [in the sense that we, when we are teens, become less aware of the financial and environmental consequences]. I found it interesting that the % of Pickup operation was higher than the rest. When I think of a pickup I think of a gas-guzzler and even though it is the cool car to drive it is financial, in my opinion, a complete waste of money. I was expecting there to be a higher %of fuel efficient and/or SUV, but that might be what they mean by Mid-Range Car -Standard.
ReplyDeleteI liked the video. It was kind out scary to think that humans were the ones who initially programed that robot and then it turned around and attacked back; reminds me a lot of "I,Robot".