Fergus Cassidy

Future tense

It is a well-known fact that no other section of the population avail themselves more readily and speedily of the latest triumphs of science than the criminal class.
- Inspector John Bonfield, Chicago Police Department, 1888

SO WHAT'S changed since the above warning? Not much. Criminals still avail of science's riches to increase their own.

But what has changed is the Inspector's reference to science. Would most police officials talking on the same subject today not use the word technology instead?

They would and do. And so do many many other people. Somewhere over the last 30 to 40 years science and technology seem to have gone their separate ways. There was a time, though, when they were indivisible.

The invention of the telegraph was a triumph of science. Immunisation another of its victories. Technology was an intrinsic part of science. Without steam or electricity, many life saving scientific breakthroughs would not have happened when they did.

Personally, I blame the space race. From this scientific endeavour came digital watches and Smash instant potato. The appearance of synthetic imagery, food and clothing ushered in the era of technology, science's progeny.

From that point on, time spent in the school lab was science but trying to talk to a mate next door using a long piece of string and two bean tins was, well, technology. Not to be taken as seriously as, say, the periodic table.

Over the last 40 years scientific discovery has lead to an unprecedented growth in consumer electronic goods and information services like television, radio and the internet. It is these - and other - everyday appliances that have altered the everyday definition of technology.

And every day, it seems, technology is having a rough time of it. The bulls, bears and cash cows are only in the halfpenny place when it comes to technology's woes. Whatever evils or ills society gets confronted with, you can be sure that the j'accuse finger will not be far away.

Occasionally science throws up something which can deeply divide opinion, usually where moral or ethical matters are concerned. Technology, though, gets the lion's share of criticism and negativity.

In his column in last Wednesday's Irish Times, Kevin Myers rightly warned of the dangers to children from mobile phones and pornography. Following on he wrote: "You don't have to be especially pessimistic to realise that we are now all servants of technology. It is our master in a detailed and persistent way which has never been known before in the history of the world".

While I understand and have some sympathy with the 'enslavement' perception, I do have serious doubts about whether we have never been here before.

Look at the enormous dangers and changes facing people who were born in Ireland in the 1920s. They would have seen horse transport replaced by cars; boats replaced by aeroplanes; letter-writing replaced by telegraph and then telephone; candles replaced by electricity and theatre replaced by television. And a lot of these discoveries brought fear, just as today.

But is society enslaved to electricity for example or are we confusing beneficial dependence with enslavement? It is the opposite of servitude to use beneficial technologies that are there, especially to prolong and enhance life.

According to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, a child born in Ireland in 1926 would, on average, live to 57. A child born now, however, could expect to live 20 years longer.

Is there any doubt at all that science - and technology - have played a crucial role in life expectancy? Further harnessing of technology may yet see the scourge of disease and illnesses like cancer and Alzheimer's eradicated once and for all.

Of course the future has many dangers and threats in store, but we are not the first in having to deal with it. The threats may be perceived as greater today, but our knowledge and understanding is also much greater.

In many ways, we are faced with the same fundamental dilemma which previous generations had to struggle with. How to separate the good from the bad, the baby from the bathwater.

The combustion engine which causes hundreds of deaths and thousands of serious injuries is the same one that transports an ambulance, a fire brigade or a doctor. The aeroplane engine bringing people on holidays is the same one bringing mass destruction from its bomb doors.

Getting the balance right has never been easy or straightforward in the past and why should the future be any different? It is understandable that there is foreboding about the future, but as long ago as 150AD, Marcus Antonius shed some light:

Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.