Negative Impacts Of Science And Technology

Today, with the great progress in the fields of science and technology during the 20th century, human beings’ living space is gradually being expanded and will soon find themselves in relatively material abundance. Because scientific and technological productivity forces are the most powerful, people will soon enjoy much greater material wealth in the near future. The progress of science and technology marks the progress of productivity, and the transformation of productivity leads to the progress of society. But in the meantime, we have to realize that science and technology is a double-edged sword. Science and technology will also bring certain negative consequences when applied to society; otherwise, there would not be such major problems in the survival and development of mankind, and these problems are more and more obvious. Science and technology playing on production promotes the development of industry and agriculture, the creation of tremendous social wealth, and the fulfillment of material demands for mankind.

However, with industrial and agricultural development, a series of problems related to environmental pollution and ecological damage emerge. There was a very famous case of environmental pollution caused by environmental pollution-the London environmental smog event in the United Kingdom, which caused persistent heavy fog that killed more than 5,000 people. For example, an environmental and ecological problem caused by over-exploitation and over-representation of natural resources is another example. It includes global warming, ozone layer destruction, acid rain, freshwater resource crisis, energy shortage, sharp decline of forest resources, land desertification, accelerated species extinction, and excessive garbage accumulation. All of these pose a direct threat to the survival of mankind. Science and technology play a role in war.

Looking at the past and present times, many sciences and technologies in the history of human history had their first use for war and military purposes which inspired the development of science and technology.

The discovery of iron weapons brought “iron weapons to war” and greatly increased the scale and brutality of ancient wars. The three-series black powder of nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal, which was inadvertently invented by alchemists in the Tang Dynasty of ancient China, was initially used for military purposes and yielded a series of explosive firearms, tubular projectile firearms, and rockets. The damage on mankind created by the three scientific revolutions far surpasses the devastation caused when iron and explosives were discovered thousands of years ago. To give a little example, the nuclear weapons that accompanied the emergence of the third scientific and technological revolution were enough to unleash some of the largest and harshest explosions ever given to humanity. The first atomic bomb fell from an American plane on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, causing 90,000 dead in a flame brighter than the sun and instantly turning the city into a pile of ruins. Two days later, on August 9, Nagasaki witnessed the explosion of the second atomic bomb, killing 35,000 Japanese.

The nuclear explosion released tremendous energy in an instant, and its lethality surpassed any weapon in human history. The radioactive pollution caused by the atomic bomb blasted humans and resulted in natural ecological damage that could not be repaired. People are fully aware that the employment of nuclear weapons will cause major disasters to mankind and even destroy human civilization.

Conclusion

Science and technology are the major productive forces. The main factors are economic development, the facilitation of people’s life styles, the supply of more favorable material conditions to ensure the full and free development of mankind, and the liberation from work and life for the provision of more time to correct themselves and realize full development. However, it can also be seen that with the development of science and technology, the disadvantages of science and technology have become more and more obvious, and the corresponding problems have become more and more serious, such as the shortage of resources, the destruction of the environment, the frequent occurrence of local wars, and world hegemonism. As Einstein said, “Science is a powerful tool. How to use it to bring happiness or disaster to mankind depends on human beings, not on tools.” Mankind must use science and technology rationally, respect nature, respect the interests of others and other countries, and jointly promote the process of science and technology for the benefit of mankind in a peaceful and sharing attitude.

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