Module 12

By

Hunter DeVries

           

            Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you. –Roger Ebert. I believe this is the motivation of the author towards his paper. I would like to explain a bit about “Why the future doesn’t need us” by Bill Joy, explained by some of the emotions or feelings, which drove him to write this paper.      

            Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. – Ralph Waldo Emerson. The imagination is a feeling of wisdom that leads great men and women of the world to the technological advancements such as genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. These have unleashed a whole new universe of scientific exploration. The results thus far have been incredible on one side but have been destructive on the other. From the medical advancements that have been able to help millions if not billions of people, to the atomic bomb which did the opposite of help, it created devastation and fear.

            The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown – H. P. Lovecraft. I think that this quote explains exactly how the author feels towards the future of technology. Now don’t get me wrong I believe that Bill Joy is a genius and he is very persuasive in his essay, but it motivated by fear of what may or may not happen. But fear shouldn’t hold us back from what can help people for generations to come. There will always an opposition to all things, and that is why it’s worth taking the risk.

The biggest risk is not taking any risk…. In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. – Mark Zuckerberg. Fighting to make something happen is worth the risk in my opinion. I think that when you have the opportunity to make a positive difference in the world, it is worth the risk. Imagine if we would not have taken the venture into cancer treatments that have helped numberless amounts of people. This article was written back in 2000, which means if we would have taken his advice we wouldn’t have anything that we typically use on a daily basis.

Overall, I am not convinced by the evidence that he presented in the article, because even though the past can teach us doesn’t mean it always applies. I admit that he contributed to many of the foundational parts and principles of the technology that we have today, but he shouldn’t be afraid of the opportunity for technology to grow. None the less a great article which has some real depth to his argument, like the depth of our future, phenomenal.