Technology: The Revolving Door

         Technology is a revolving door just as surely as a revolving door is technology. When we look at the basic function of a revolving door we will find that it is a rotating mechanism that allows people to move from one area to another, and in a way technology can do the very same way. Technology is the application of science and a door would fall under this description. Most people who walk through this door though usually have an idea as to where they plan to go. This is where perhaps technology and the revolving door differ.
         Early enlightenment thinkers of the mid to late 1700's had a clear understanding of where they wanted to eventually end up. These thinkers included that of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. These people are also the framer's of our constitution and there ideals are imbedded into the United States sediment. They were hoping that science and technology would eventually lead to a better, maybe utopia like, society. In order for technology to be applied effectively I feel that you must have a goal just as walking through a revolving door you must know where your going. It has become skewed though our technological state is similar to a person in terminal revolution in The Door. The question we must ask ourselves what good could this possibly be? I don't mean to overgeneralize. Some technologies like medicine, fossil fuel alternatives, and better ways to produce food have a clear goal. Others though the end result is a little fuzzy such as human cloning. Human cloning is not a technology that seems like it has the betterment of society in mind. What could possibly be the goal of this? To create some kind of monstrous clone army or make a warehouse full of disgusting human body parts? I don't believe that either of these options sound very appealing to most people, and most people would probably portend that they are immoral and deviant. Not only must you know where your, but you must also be willing to accept The Door.
         A technological fix seems like a better solution than social engineering, but what if a technological fix requires a certain degree of social engineering? This is something that we must consider. At the Stark State Community College there is a revolving doors adjacent to a normal electric door. Next to these doors there is a sign that reads, “Please use the revolving door it saves electricity.” To me this seems like a great alternative. Withal people still seem to use the electric door instead. Moreover people seem to use it even more than the revolving door. As a personal experiment I observed 30 people who walked through this door in about a half hour. Of the 30, 18 of them used the electric door instead of using the revolving door. Now I say a personal experiment because sociological patterns are something that interest me immensely. It interests me because there is something novel about watching a person choose to do something almost wrong just because it saves them a little effort. They can simply just walk through the door instead of having to push the revolving door. People sometimes are to egotistic to see the greater good of a little selflessness. Here we have a technological fix that has been employed in order to save energy and people still choose to ignore it. Technology can work the same exact way as The Door. It is meant to make your life easier, but you must accept the implications of it. This is why I don't believe that a utopia will ever be possible because people cannot think of the greater good of the situation.
         The framer's of the constitution did not live in a time when it was technologically possible to live in a perfect society. We are approaching a time where it most definitely will be, but I have no doubt that we won't, we will remain sedentary. We are in a revolving door and we don't know when to stop, where we're going, nor do some of us choose to even take this path. What if we go to far? Potentially destroy ourselves with our own designs. There is no reason for this other than lack of unity in the world. Everyone is afraid of advances of everyone else so they press on hoping their discoveries are bigger and better than the other party's. A prime example of this would be the nuclear arms race. Here we have countries that need their own store of nuclear weapons in order to compete with another country's store. Why not instead just have everyone get along and not built terrible devices that could destroy life as we know it? This is an excellent question, so excellent that I don't believe that anyone has an answer other than fear people have of loosing their standing by having others become more empowered than themselves. Perhaps people think that there is not enough room for others in The Door. Why risk loosing your spot to someone else?
         Now walking through The Door it seems simple enough you enter the area of it, you push, and you move. Imagine that not only are you trying to walk through The Door, but everyone in the entire world. All of them pushing in different directions, and no one is really sure where they should go so they speculate what is best. This is would be something immensely difficult to overcome. This is also the fate that technology faces in our world. Everyone has their own ideas on where it should go, and no one can really agrees so everyone is just pushing in all different directions and we are not really moving at all.
         The situation seems dire, and it most definitely is, but there is something that can be done to help alleviate the situation. All I ask of people is that they look at the revolving door of technology that they are taking part in and ask themselves, “Where are we going?” People need to understand that technology must serve a function that is going to improve our society or it is defunct. Most importantly they must understand the unity is an all powerful force, and that it can only be pure and good. People are afraid to abandon the system that we are living in, but they must be able to stand back and look at the bigger picture and determine what is actually happening. Don't just spin round and round and never go anywhere. You must break away from the oscillating current that is flushing over you and choose a fate that is best for humankind.