Technology, history and our future

Reader Bill Brown wrote in about our discussion a while back about history, English majors and the modern day.

“Technology allows us to accomplish tasks faster, cheaper and more efficiently. Great … except when it’s not. Humans are flawed creatures. We have many wonderful traits, and we also have some really nasty ones. Students of history know how both sides of the human coin and how technologies have been employed in the past to our disadvantage. This is important. …

“History and language are only two areas in a liberal arts education. There are many others: psychology, philosophy, religion, sociology, etc. Each gives us a better understanding of ourselves and the extremely complex world in which we live. This understanding is crucial. We have achieved the ability to destroy the entire human race and much of the ecosystem that supports it. This was all accomplished through technology. If we fail to understand the myriad ways in which what we have created may be used because we are solely focused on the technology itself, we will inevitably turn this powerful tool on ourselves.”

Your turn: Email rrollins@coxhio.com.

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