Natalie Cunningham

Block B

April 17th, 2017

Humanity 2.0

Arthur C. Clarke once said, Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to

magic. Today, in 2017, that statement remains true. The world is revolving around the latest

phone improvement, self driving cars and drones that deliver packages; however, these

unnecessary machines are far from majestic. Humanity, also known as mankind or simply the

human race, cannot keep up with technology because it is constantly changing with too much

improvement. Like Albert Einstein once said, It has become appallingly obvious that our

technology has exceeded our humanity. Of course Einstein wasnt referencing the latest app

nor the fastest car; he was referring to the atomic bomb, which will be talked about further.

However, his statement was and still is correct to this day. Technology has exceeded humanity

by becoming bigger, better and stronger than mankind; examples of this includes the atomic

bomb, artificial selection and machines that are more efficient than all humans.

Technology exceeds humanity because it is physically bigger than humans. This gives

technology the upperhand because it can easily dominate the human race. It also creates an

environment where it controls humans using fear as well as admiration. Technology is given

more significance than a human life because it is much bigger in terms of politics, the physical

size, and the social aspect. One example of technology exceeding humanity because of pure

size is the atomic bomb. It exceeds humans because it can easily kill every single human on

this earth with no exception. Roughly 16,000 nukes with an average potency of 33,500 kilotons

can destroy the entire world (Source B). As of 2016, there are 15,000 nukes on this earth

divided between 9 countries. To put this into perspective, a single nuclear warhead, if
detonated on a large city, could kill millions of people, with the effects persisting for

decades (Source A). In other words, at any minute all of the nukes in the world could

detonate and destroy this planet. In this case and many others, technology exceeds

humanity by controlling the future of mankind.

Similarly, technology exceeds humanity because it is better than humans at many

tasks. Society prefers technology over other humans on a day to day basis as seen in social

interactions. People are accustomed to looking at their phone rather than other peoples

faces. Thus, technology has consumed us and controls us because it is perceived as

superior. In another sense, technology is actually better than humans at completing many

tasks; the effects of this is shown in the workforce where many people lost their jobs to

machinery. This pattern began in 1794 with the production of the cotton gin. Today,

machines continue to impact the workforce. In the past ten years, of the 5.6 million people

who lost their jobs, 85% was due to technological changes (Source C). Specifically,

automation replaces people; for instance, the automation can be seen in welding. An

average human welder gets payed $25 an hour yet it takes only $8 an hour to pay for a

robot to do the same job (Source C). Economically, it makes sense to save money and use

machinery to do the job cheaper and more efficiently however it deprives millions of people

of jobs. Technology has exceeded humanity because it is capable of completing tasks

better than humans which negatively affects economics and everyday life.

The strength of technology overpowers humankind because it is stronger

intellectually. Technology, like computers, are far superior to humans in terms of

intelligence. They can solve mathematical problems that the majority of the population could

never even be able to comprehend. One instance that technology exceeds humanity in
science is the idea of artificial selection. For some time couples have had the opportunity to

choose the gender of their child. This is ethically controversial because it is upsetting the

natural process of birth (Source D). Some people argue that in a few decades the gender

ratio in the population could be overthrown. There are even experiments today that test

genetic mutations to create a child with the least amount of disease and illness. This

science is trying to rid the world of impurities which is unnatural. The world needs disease

to naturally kill the population to prevent overpopulation. In this instance, technology

exceeds humanity because it has the opportunity to alter the human species.

In terms of mankind, technology far exceeds it because it is more superior in many

aspects. It can solve problems far too complex for the average human, perform tasks at a

much more efficient speed and even fly to the moon. Without technology we, humans,

would not be where we are today. However, technology must not control humanity so much

that it exceeds it. Humans must control technology, unfortunately though the relationship

looks to be the other way around. Mankind must refer to Einsteins observation so many

years ago and the instances still prevalent today; humans must exceed.
Bibliography

Source A:
"Nuclear Arsenals." ICAN. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

Source B:
Biddle, Sam. "How Many Nukes Would It Take to Blow Up the Entire Planet?" Gizmodo.
Gizmodo.com, 05 Apr. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

Source C:
Cocco, Federica. "Financial Times." Subscribe to Read. N.p., 2 Dec. 2016. Web. 13 Apr.
2017.

Source D:
Storrs, Carina. "Choosing Baby's Sex: Should Parents Be Allowed to Do It?" CNN. Cable
News Network, 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.