Before you doubt the title of this article, ask yourself: Is technology an absolute blessing to mankind? No one on earth can deny the improvements of humans’ lives brought by technology. If technology is so perfect, everyone will spare no pains to advance it and make our world an ever-better place. But why is it not the case? The answer is the secret code ‘PPP’- Pollution, Power of destruction and Potential hazards of technology. Some scientific advances have caused new, complicated and even dangerous problems which have no easy solutions. Technology can be more a curse than a blessing.
Technology will invariably result in various kinds of pollution problems which threaten our life. Although it improves efficiency of factory work and our living standard, it creates numerous pollutants at the same time. Chemical pollution, refrigeration, air-conditioning systems and cars, which damage the ozone layer and emit unavoidable pollutants, are the evil crystallization of technology. Toxic wastes are being dumped into rivers, lakes and even the atmosphere. Fishes and other marine lives cannot survive in polluted oceans. And we are breathing a lot of polluted air which may make us ill or may even cause death. So acute is the threat of pollution generated by technology that all living things may be affected.
Apart from the pollution problem, what is more terrifying is the harm caused by the abuse of technology. Undoubtedly, when technology is wrongly used, its destructive power is uncontrollable and deadly. Some technology is used by politicians for the purpose of war. For example, some countries make use of atomic energy to produce atomic bombs that can destroy millions of lives instantly. Another example is radium which will threaten the human race if it is used in nuclear war. The wicked intention to use technology brings us nightmares instead of benefits. The second P- Power of destruction- triggers a living crisis of human beings indeed.
The word ‘potential’ suggests the possibility of something being developed in the future. The potential hazards of technology are still not well-known or well-researched. In the past, man studied technology because he wanted to understand nature. But today, to study technology is to master nature. Human beings have been trying hard to change nature more and more. Even the basic rules of nature can also be controlled. Since the first sheep ‘Dolly’ was cloned by scientists, the door to the human cloning technique has been opened. Perhaps someday someone will control the cloned people to commit crimes. Like nuclear power, it is advanced but also has brought us so many disasters. No one expects cloning to play the same role as nuclear power. Cloning is just one of the many examples showing that technology will pose a menace to man’s future due to its unknown potential hazards.
Scientists and experts always try their best to ‘upgrade’ technology. When they target their technological goals skywards, they may easily overlook the simple but serious ‘3Ps’ which threaten our existence. We human beings, though being praised as the King of Wisdom, cannot totally control or the harm brought about by technology. Rather than putting all manpower and efforts into the development of technology, we should also keep the ill effects of technology to a minimum.