What should we do when a technology might be spreading too fast? Consider nano-silver, an antimicrobial compound that some fear might be damaging to many kinds of living cells. What happens if nano-silver gets into our waterways and oceans before regulators have time to examine it?
Or think about this: what do we do when technology seems to move too slowly — when we need urgent solutions to problems like climate change and renewable energy?
Oxford University Professor Steve Rayner, in his lecture Technology and Transition in the 21st Century (iTunes, feed), presents some intriguing scenarios and new ways to think about how we use technology and how technology affects us.
This lecture is part of a series of anthropology lectures entitled Societies in Transition (iTunes, feed) which includes topics like on the Neanderthal-Modern Human Transition, metallurgy in prehistoric Britain, and the decline of the Roman Empire.
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Filed under: 5-star professors, Anthropology, Idea of the week, Lectures, Science, University podcast | Tagged: dangers of technology, Societies in Transition, Steve Rayner
