Abstract
Since the beginning of our history, technology and man have been in a state of tension: man has learned to make use of instruments to refine and perfect his non-specialized organic nature in any desired direction. Technology helps him to move faster than any animal, to see, hear, and smell better, to obtain food faster and in greater quantities, to protect himself more effectively against hazards and natural risks, to prolong his span of life, and to ensure continuous propagation of his species. However, a price must be paid for this progress: increasing specialization and differentiation in society result in anonymous and incomprehensible social structures which the individual can no longer understand, technological systems of ever greater perfection and cost increase the risk of being killed by the machine which man himself has created. The acceleration of production efforts creates more and more environmental pollution which, in the final analysis, can destroy the foundations that support human life. Last but not least, technology can also amplify the negative developments in human society: the more efficient our technology, the greater is the potential for catastrophic events when aggression takes place, expressed in terms of crime, terrorism, civil unrest, or war.
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Renn, O., Swaton, E. (1985). Attitude Studies by the IAEA/IIASA Risk Assessment Group. In: Covello, V.T., Mumpower, J.L., Stallen, P.J.M., Uppuluri, V.R.R. (eds) Environmental Impact Assessment, Technology Assessment, and Risk Analysis. NATO ASI Series, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70634-9_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70634-9_15
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