Technically Speaking Why All Americans Need to Know More About Technology (2002) / Chapter Skim
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2 Benefits of Technological Literacy
2 Benefits of Technological Literacy
Pages 25-46
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How should one react to efforts by local government to place surveillance cameras in high-crime areas of the city? Technologically literate people 25
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The first is the use of car air bags and relates mostly to the concerns of individual citizens. The second addresses genetically modified foods, an issue relevant to individuals, who must decide which foods to buy at the grocery store; policy makers, who must take into account regulatory, trade, and other considerations; and the biotechnology industry and farmers, the two groups most responsible for creating and selling such products.
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That is, if 100 fatally injured drivers in cars without air bags had been driving cars with air bags, 13 of them would have survived. By comparison, seat belts are approximately 42 percent effective in preventing driver fatalities, compared to situations in which no seat belts are worn.
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In one study, air bags used in conjunction with seat belts reduced total harm (a mix of fatalities and injuries) among male drivers by 11 percent but increased the harm to female drivers wearing seat belts by 9 percent (Dalmotas et al., 1996~.
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Kraft recalled millions of its taco shells in response (Washir~gtorz Post, September 18, 2000~. Groups opposed to genetically modified foods cited the episode as evidence that the risks had not been taken seriously enough.
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The U.S. government ended up buying back millions of dollars worth of seed stock that had been mixed with the genetically modified version, called StarLink.
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How should products containing GMOs be labeled? It is impossible to know whether a technologically literate population would reject GMOs, embrace them, or find a middle ground, accepting foods that provided significant improvements, such as the beta-carotene rice, but rejecting foods that simply lowered the cost of production by a few percentage points.
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Demand for electric power had grown to the point that the state's two major utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, were having difficulty meeting the need. On days of particularly high demand, they instituted rolling blackouts, turning off electricity to first one area, then another.
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If they cannot, they shut off power to some customers to prevent the entire system from failing. Once it enters the grid, there is no distinction between electricity generated by, say, a natural gas plant outside Sacramento and a nuclear plant near San Diego.
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As a result, in the 3 years after the deregulation law passed, California added only 2 percent to its generating capacity (New York Times,.fanuary 11, 2001~. Meanwhile, the California economy grew rapidly, twice the national average in the late l990s, and demand for electricity grew apace (New York Times,.January 11, 2001~.
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A more technologically literate California legislator might have insisted that planning for additional generating capacity begin before deregulation went forward. The trade-offs between increasing electricity supply and protecting the environment may also have been more prominent in the state's debate on energy policy.
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Most current political, legal, and ethical issues, from what to do about global warming to how to protect privacy in the Information Age, have a technological component. A technologically literate citizen is likely to participate in the decision making, whether by voting for a candidate or in a referendum, writing a letter to the editor of a local paper, sending an e-mail to a member of Congress, participating in a public opinion poll, speaking out at a town meeting, or supporting the work of an organized special-interest group.
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Slaying the "Green Snake" ~ The design and construction of the Boston Central Artery and Tunnel, the largest public works project under way in the United States, illustrates the power of everyday people to influence the shape and direction of technological development. Scheduled for completion in 2004, the $12 billion-plus project, involving 160 lane miles in a 7.5-mile corridor, will bring to a close the development of a massive interstate highway network begun during the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower.
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The EIS prepared for the Central Artery and Tunnel addressed 17 categories, including transportation, air quality, noise and vibration, energy, economic characteristics, visual characteristics, historic resources, water quality, wetlands and waterways, and vegetation and wildlife. Because the law mandated public participation in the design of the project, a draft EIS was widely circulated by managers of the project.
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The committee's deliberations were open, multidisciplinary, and consensus seeking. Members represented national environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club; local environmental, transportation, and business groups, such as the Charles River Watershed Association and the Boston Chamber of Commerce; and organizations of professional engineers, architects, and urban planners.
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Conversely, technologically literate citizens would be less likely to support policies that would undermine the technological basis of the Increasing the overall level of technological literacy would almost certainly improve the climate for technologyc riven economic g rowth. 40 economy.
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In this climate, technologically literate workers may have a competitive advantage in the job market and may be more likely to land BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY 41
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At the moment, the United States does not produce enough technically skilled workers to support certain sectors of its high-tech economy. Therefore, we must depend on workers brought in from other countries (Committee on Workforce Needs in Information Technology, 2001; 21st Century Workforce Commission, 2000~.
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Thus, the nation's poor and minorities will benefit much more by being technologically literate; being literate, they will find it easier to overcome their lack of preparation and participate effectively in an increasingly technological world. If overall technological literacy is not improved, particularly among the technological have-nots, we can expect to see the growth of a "technological divide" more pervasive than today's digital divide.
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Technological literacy can provide a tool for dealing with rapid changes. A technologically literate person will find it easier to understand and assimilate new technologies and so will be less likely to be left behind.
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A technologically literate public will undoubtedly make some poor decisions. But many more decisions will be good ones that benefit the whole society rather than only one part of it.
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From page 46... ...
2001a. Vehicle Safety: Technologies, Challenges, and Research and Development Expenditures for Advanced Air Bags.
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