Critical Thinking Asignment #1

Is there really an "unbridgeable divide" between science and humanites? There most definitely is. However, I do not see the divide as being connected by a metaphorical bridge. Instead, I view the cross between science and humanity as a venn diagram. In this diagram there are two interconnecting circles that clearly separate the 'techno-romantics' and the 'Luddites'. However, the circles connect in the middle. This middle area is for those who embrace certain advances in technology, but also consider other advances to be harmful to human society.
In my case, I fall in the middle of the interconnecting circles. I embrace the advances in technology along with thousands of human consumers. I envy those who will be buying an IPad this year. I do believe that advances in prosthetic legs will make life significantly easier for amputees. However, where does advances in science cross the line? When do ethics come into play? Will discovering cold fusion really make a difference in terms of finding a cheap energy source. And what of time travel? Albert Einstein was an intelligent man who, if he lived for another 200 years, would probably have created a market for time hopping Fords. But would you rather watch a movie about an adolescent boy who travels back in time causing himself to never have been born in the first place, or actually learn that lesson the hard way by living it? These are questions that we have to ask ourselves.
From the beginning of human civilization, technology has played a crucial role in our advancement as superior beings. From the invention of the wheel to the invention of a touch screen cell phone, humans will always look to advance our knowledge and create more efficient ways of living. However, we must question whether we will be the ones who destroy ourselves. There is no question that our advances have led to global warming. Though, there are other causes of global warming, humans account for a vast majority of the blame. We are a society of consumption and waste. We create these smoke emitting factories, and these carbon emitting cars, and CFC emitting sprays, and unnatural styrofoams and plastics. But what happens after we are done? Nothing. These harmful wastes stay in our environment. The gases do not magically disappear. This is where we must consider a more neutral ground. It is too late for anyone to be a Luddite. Society is far too advanced for that. However, it is a dangerous world for the one lives in techno-romantic land.