Since time immemorial, mankind has created objects and methods to make their lives easier. We commonly refer to these innovations as technology. From the first wooden spear created by the caveman to the latest augmented reality of today’s Silicon Valley, these innovations have been technology. Since technology has been adopted, there have been naysayers that have always spouted the same lines of “This technology is going to ruin us” and “This technology is evil”. In this essay, we will show the duality of technology by the destructive nature of it, the beneficial nature, and the choices mankind makes when it puts these technologies into practice. In 1945, at 5:29:45 a.m., the Manhattan Project came to an explosive end as the first atom bomb …show more content…
The weaponry was created to bring a decisive end to the conflict that had been raging for nearly six years, claiming the lives of over sixty million people. The lead scientist of the project, Robert Oppenheimer, said after the first bomb exploded, “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds”. He realized that by giving the allies a way to end the war, he had also opened the Pandora’s Box that was mankind finally having the means to cause its own extinction. By weaponizing the power of the atom, we had created a superweapon the like of the world had never seen. After the dropping of the weapon on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we ended the war before Operation Downfall had to be deployed, which would have resulted in millions of more casualties on both sides. The destructive nature of the atomic bomb made two hundred and twenty-five thousand civilians die but may have prevented millions from dying by a full-scale attack on the mainland of Japan. We can see that even major destruction has positive effects. Adam Gopnik states, “The Never-Betters, the Better-Nevers, and …show more content…
Thirty-two people died and dozens more suffered radiation burns in the opening days of the crisis. This was caused by human error and lack of safety used in the Soviet Union at the time. Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest and most sustainable forms of energy we have available. Twenty percent of the United States’ energy comes from nuclear. Being such a large power supply, this also puts it under the eyes of terrorists. The energy production is a benefit to mankind, but the waste given off by it is incredibly dangerous. Terrorists looking to make a dirty bomb seek out this waste to drop radioactive fallout over a large area, causing great sickness and death to occur. There have only ever been two cases of cesium-containing bombs, and neither was detonated. Both involved Chechnya. Both were thwarted, but there remain many sources of dirty bomb ingredients that are stolen or lost every day. The European Union reports 70 go missing every year, whereas the U.S. reports one goes missing every day. Again, we see the duality of this technology, being able to provide power to untold millions, or being able to give radiation sickness to large numbers of