The Inhumanity of Technology
In William Gibson’s “Johnny Mnemonic” we analyzed as a class what the killing floor was and how it was ultimately rooted into their culture as an inhumane use of technology whether it was considered high or low tech. I think we can see how we used technology in an inhumane way in the past as well, much like the Low Tek’s.
One example is the creation of the atomic bomb in 1945 which was used during the end of World War II when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The effects of the atomic bomb and radiation still wreak havoc today due to radiation. The aftermath of the atomic bomb left nearly 140,000 people in Hiroshima dead and 74,000 in Nagasaki and many survivors would experience side effects such as leukemia, cancer and other effects due to the radiation. At the time the creation of this nuclear weapon was seen as great in ways that it will help improve warfare.
However, after bombing Nagasaki and Hiroshima many innocent lives were taken making the creation of the atomic bomb highly inhumane. Therefore, the creation of this nuclear weapon is highly inhumane being that nothing good could possibly come from this creation much like the killing floor in “Johnny Mnemonic”.
