Blog Assignment #4

The technological question is: Sustainable abundance, or ecological crisis?


In Chapter Six of “Technology Matters,” David Nye focuses and attempts to address one question that asks if technology brings “sustainable abundance, or ecological crisis?” Such question can be responded in copious ways depending on one’s own perspective on how technology has affected them personally and the environment in it which surrounds them. Inquiring such a question himself, Nye reacts and replies in an interesting manner. Nye approaches to answer this remarkable question in a way that enables his readers to see that technology can create both sustainable abundance and ecological crisis. In his attempt, he gives his own personal thoughts and provides facts to support his point. Instead of arguing for one side, Nye is not for or against neither. Nye elaborates on how technology has been useful in agriculture and industrializations but at the same time, it creates many ecological problems. Nye points out that technology in “agriculture development illustrated how industrialization creates more wealth, more jobs, and more goods.” (pg.90) Technology can help to create these abundances, but many environmental problems existed because, “technology also affect the air, which carries traces of smoke, microscopic particles, pollen, carbon monoxide, and dust.” (pg. 89) Nye draws from several sources such as statistics, facts, and views from other people who were against technology and also who encouraged it to help support his own personal thoughts when replying to such a question that he poses. In conclusion, Nye believes that, “technologies have been use to create abundance, but at a high environmental cost.” (pg. 98)

Does technology bring “sustainable abundance, or ecological crisis?” I would have answered this question quite differently from Nye simply because I am more against technology than to encourage it. I can see that technology provides abundances in many aspects, but the environmental issue to me is more important and it is disturbing. To me, it is an issue that I can’t ignore. I think that the ecological crisis factor will outweigh the abundances that technology has provided in the end. I say this because the harm that technology brings to us and our environment is arduous to repair. Can we get rid of harmful things that already existed in our environments? Certainly, we can try and find ways to improve things and slow down the process of things, but once it exists; to get rid of is almost impossible. Global warming is an example of what is happening to our environment as a result of technological uses. Take a moment and read through this article about global warming. Surely, it might alarm you as much as it has alarmed me. Knowing that technology is causing our environment harm is frightening and startling.

Even if technology gives us abundances, are we willing to ignore the fact that technology is causing damage to the world in which we live in and can we ignore that? I certainly can’t. I say this because of my own personal experiences in life. I was not born here, nor was I rose surrounded by technology and abundances. I was born to a large family in a country that did not adapt much technology in their cultural uses. “People at the periphery create their own environment.” (pg.81) I believe this is so true because how I answered the question Nye poses in Chapter Six is a result of where I came from and what I am surrounded by.