Author: Colin Randles

Reading the Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov has been one of my first experiences with science fiction.   Since the book was released in the mid 1950’s, it has an interesting view on what a possible earth could look like. My desired field of study in biology is evolution and ecology, so the topic of climate changes, rationing, and population expansion is very real to the field I am interested in. The idea of 8 billion people on the planet was probably alien to Asimov in 1854, when the population of the world was only 2.7 billion (the current population of China is 1.4 billion, or 52% of that). The current world population is estimated at 7.4 billion, as of August 2016, and it does not seem to me like we are approaching the point where we need to live in caves of steel. However, the estimated carrying capacity of the Earth is about 10 billion, which will be reached in our lifetime. The fact of the matter is that we are changing the Earth at a rate that has only been seen a few previous times, which happened to be the other 5 times that we had major extinctions on this planet. A major extinction is defined as more than 50% of species of life going extinct on earth, losing massive amounts of biodiversity. One of the hottest topics in science right now is how we are pushing Earth to the brink of the sixth mass extinction. The industrial revolution combined with modern technology (cars specifically) has released enough gas into the atmosphere to raise the temperate of our atmosphere, raise the temperature of the ocean, and dissolve massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the ocean creating sulfuric acid. This buildup of sulfuric acid is unknown to most people (myself included until last year) and has already created miles of dead zones in the Mediterranean Sea area that cannot support life anymore. This is due to the sulfuric acid acidifying the ocean, dropping the pH level slightly. Any change in pH causes large changes in ecosystems. For example, if human blood changed more than a few tenths of a point, our bodies would not be able to hold oxygen in your red blood cells, and therefore die. Not only will sulfuric acid destroy our marine ecosystems, but also commercial fisheries will be completely tapped out by approximately 2050, and there will be little to no food coming out of the oceans. Along with a rapidly growing population, this will put much strain on the agriculture industry to ramp up production, possibly driving food prices through the roof if we do not increase agricultural production/technology.

Science fiction shapes the future in some ways, as we strive to create these fantasy worlds that past authors talked about. I hope that we are in contact with nature when Earth reaches 8 billion people, but there will most certainly be a time when we will be dealing with rationing supplies and space. I intend to read more classic science fiction as I find author views of futuristic Earth fascinating.

Tesla and other leading car companies have made strides in self-driving car technology that will greatly improve our quality of life, but will also lead to ethical dilemmas. Men and women will be able to get ready for work on their commute, and high school kids will be able to do homework on the way to school. However, new technology has always created new problems. In this case, it brings up problems with human life. In a split second, how will a computer choose between the life of the driver, and a passenger on the street?   Their needs to be a certain universal code set into law by the government, states, or the UN. This also leads to problems about jurisdiction on the restraints on self-driving cars that will need to be addressed.

There are many situations that will be seen as grey areas. One example is that the car will probably be programmed in the self-interest of the driver, meaning that if there is one person in the car, and one person in the street, it will crash itself in the interest of the driver. But, it will need a optional self-harm program if there are two people in the street, and only one driver in the car, because this would make the most sense. However, I would think that this would make the driver uncomfortable, since they are shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars for this new technology. If they are paying a high premium for this luxury, they are not going to want the car to choose to kill the driver (or get in a very expensive accident) instead of killing two people that they do not know. It will decrease sales if the consumers know that it could be potentially very dangerous, which will influence the car makers to program the cars with minimal self harm tendencies. Many people will think of this as a moral dilemma, and will not trust the technology, which is why government needs to take a role in regulating this new technology.

The amount of people harmed also needs to be taken into account, and the “quality” of each individual, before this technology is released.  By quality I mean whether the woman is pregnant, or if the individual is a thief. Once computers are advanced enough to be able to detect the quality of each individual, and somehow quantity the opportunity cost of each situation, I would feel much more comfortable with having them on the streets. Maybe there is a point system, and if the individual is pregnant they would have more points because they are carrying another life in them, while humans with felonies on their record have a lower amount of points. Quantifying human life itself feels unethical, which is why there might not be a good answer to this dilemma. There are many questions to think about with rapid growth in technology.

This has been a hot topic for a long time now, but Donald Trump is in office and has now made an executive order that affects the lives of millions in a negative way. It is un-American to take an isolationist stand and block entry of citizens, of any country, that want a chance at a better life. I do agree that there is much going on in the Middle East and Africa, and it is not exactly our duty to directly get involved, but if people want to legally come to our country we should let them. Trump is attempting to use islamophobia and harness our fear to make the American people turn on other nationalities.   I have looked at the stats, and if you do not include 9/11, less than 75 Americans have died from terrorist attacks on US soil. While I agree that 1 death is too many, I do not think this executive order will reduce this already relatively small number. If he really wants to reduce deaths in the United States, invest in pharmaceutical research and attack big tobacco companies, which cause exponentially more deaths than Muslim terrorists.

This was one of Trump’s decisions that I did not agree with, but the main one that bothers me is appointing someone head of the EPA that does not believe in climate change. Take one college biology course and you will understand the truth. It is happening, and it is happening fast. I am a biologist, and am very passionate about this issue. A change in the oceans temperature by a few degrees could be catastrophic to marine life, which would send a rippling effect through our economy. There are so many areas of our environment that are teetering on the edge of catastrophe. Donald Trump is a smart man. It may not seem like it, but if you are as rich as he is, and manipulated your way into being the leader of the free world, you have to be doing something right. He should definitely have the brainpower to comprehend that changes to the environment are hard to reverse, and take unbelievably loner to fix than they are to induce. If he wants to bring power back to the people, the first thing he should be doing is cleaning up the environment in which we live in, not eliminating strides we have made in the right direction. Lets hope we have enough checks and balances in place to keep this man under control, and hope that we can look back in 4 years and say that he decisions for the betterment of the American people.

One theme that fascinates me was the introductions of technology to people that have never seen something before. This was a common theme in both Mark Twain’s novel and the Worlds Fair documentary. It blows my mind to think that slightly over 100 years ago people had never seen artificial light, and were being exposed to the brightest event in the history of the Earth. Also, the biggest building ever created on this planet was showcased at the worlds fair. The sheer awe of seeing something like this first hand is unfathomable, and hopefully will be replicated in our lifetime with the advancements we have made. Another point that was made in the film is that this was the Western Hemisphere’s first exposure to the Far East, such as Japan. In today’s world, we have movies and other references, so little surprises us about the cultures and customs of other people around the world. It is weird to think that my great-grandfather’s parents did not know anything about the Japanese until adulthood. Thinking like this really puts the human timescale into perspective about how far we have come in such a short period of time, in good and bad ways.

Thinking about The Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Hank Mason goes back in time to the 6^th Century and takes for granted little things that are now commonplace. Not having glass is the thing that really stuck with me. No windows, mirrors, cups, or anything that we use everyday were not anywhere to be found. I look at myself in the mirror everyday before I go to class or work, and some of these people might not have a good idea of what they look like for their entire lives. This book puts things into perspective just as the documentary did, if not more.

The idea of time travel has always been fascinating to me, and in my lifetime I would like to see that technology be accessible. If I were to travel somewhere for a short period of time, it would be the Middle Ages in Europe. This part of history has always been interesting to me (as I am currently watching Game of Thrones), and I would like to see how accurate our depiction of this time period really is. I’m sure with historians and archeologists have pieced together a good idea of what it was like, but I would still like to immerse myself in the culture of the time for a short while. Our generation has grown up with technology all around us, and we certainly take that for granted. It would be a good experience for any of us to leave all technology behind for a certain period of time and truly live off of the land, which is the only way of life that the people of the middle ages knew. I think most of us would lose our minds after more than a few days not being able to have many of the commonplace things that we do not even consider technology.

In Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Hank Morgan travels back in time to the days of King Arthur (around 600AD) where there is little to no technological advancements. I wouldn’t have even thought about not having glass, and I do not think society has considered glass as “technology” for hundreds of years. Not having windows and never being able to see your own face is a shocking thought to me, and one that I will probably not take for granted again. Not only was the technology of the day primitive, but also so were the ideologies of the masses. Clarence, a boy in King Arthur’s castle, was scared beyond belief at the fact that Merlin has cast spells all over the castle that would do harm if spoken out against him. This seems silly to Hank, as it should, but it also puts things in perspective for me a little bit. As a man of science myself, I know that we are always making new discoveries, and disproving old theories. In the 600’s, they did not know any better, and believed in the idea of magic without question. This makes me think about what things we currently believe in that people hundreds of years from now will find preposterous. I would like to believe that our advancements in STEM have been sufficient enough where we don’t have any laws of nature completely backwards, and that everything I’ve learned in school so far is not a waste and we are not actually part of the matrix, but hey you never know.