Over the last 100 years, technology has developed drastically. From improving healthcare to advancing exploration, technology is overwhelmingly advertised as an incredible benefit to society. And although much of technology has greatly bettered our world (for instance, mortality rates decreased dramatically with the arrival of toilets and functional sewage systems), some inventions are marketed as major benefits to society while their negative aspects are ignored.
In the example of cars, cars release tons of chemicals and toxins into our atmosphere, polluting our air and affecting the entire world through climate change but, with the exception of ads for electric cars, I have never seen a car commercial acknowledge how harmful the product is to the environment. But cars are not alone in this biased marketing process; almost all new and intriguing technological developments are driven by economics to ignore any unpromising side-effects and focus solely on advertising the benefits of their item.
So, knowing this, what if we look past the marketing and advertising and challenge some of the great and seemingly wonderful technological breakthroughs? What if we accept how they might benefit society, but also question whether their presence will also harm an aspect of our world?
I recently watched a video of a newly created private airplane, designed to travel cheaper than other private planes and with less fuel than commercial airplanes. And although it was sold as a benefit to the traveling world, questions arose in my mind. The biggest question was, even though this new plane uses significantly less fuel than commercial airplanes, will it use more fuel per person? And if so, won’t this newly invented plane injure our natural world just as it provides convenience to the business world? If this new airplane does in fact use more fuel per person than commercial planes, I believe that its pros are outweighed by its cons and that its use should be postponed until a more sustainable alternative is invented (the link to the YouTube video of this new plane can be found below).
Challenging marketing in our world can be a difficult process but without thinking critically, important questions will not be asked, and inventions will continue to be made at the potential expense of various parts of our society.
Meet the Celera 500L (Flies Faster, Father, Higher, Cheaper): https://youtu.be/DDnrBuiYmCI
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