Interesting Quotes.

A quote from the paper by Bill Joy, "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us" illustrates a basic point that I feel needs to be kept in mind when discussing technology, people, and the environment. As a note, I do not agree with Kaczynski's methods either, but he has a point in that technology is not a benign force; the quote is, " Kaczynski's dystopian vision describes unintended consequences, a well-known problem with the design and use of technology, and one one that is clearly related to Murphy's law- "Anything that can go wrong, will." (Actually, this is Finagle's Law, which in itself shows that Finagle was right.)." Bill Joy goes on to describe situations where the use of technology has had unintended consequences, like antibiotics resulting in resistant bacteria. I love technology and would hate to live without the Internet, my computer, and electricity, but I also believe that technology will not solve all of the problems with the environment and has probably helped people create a few. Technology can be used to help lessen the impact people have, by being used to create renewable energy sources and things like that. We should not rely solely on technology as it can have unintended consequences. This also goes for things like GMO and things like that, as we do not know what could happen in the near and far future. It could end up being like CFCs where it is more harmful in the future or it could be a boon for humanity. 

Another quote I liked was from Cradle to Cradle:

"As long as human beings are regarded as "bad," zero is a good goal. But to be less bad is to accept things as they are, to believe that poorly designed, dishonorable, destructive systems are the best humans can do. This is the ultimate failure of the "be less bad" approach: a failure of imagination. From our perspective, this is a depressing vision of our species' role in the world."

I agree that being less bad is just as bad, but slower. People have to imagine a new world and work toward that vision. This does not mean that we have to follow the vision presented in this book, but that people need to know what kind of world we want to live in. Working piecemeal  on issues as they arise, like the polar bears or other endangered species, will not work as another problem will arise. We need to have a clear vision of what we want the planet to be like so that we can work toward it using all available means, including technology, the economy, industries, education, and the government. Hopefully, that vision of the future will include being good for the planet, but we cannot even start trying unless we know what we want the planet to be like.