Assignment #5-2 sources

David Nye has a very unique way of writing his book. He starts out with a question and with in that chapter he goes in to detail different outcomes using his knowledge and the knowledge of other peoples work. In chapter two, it’s titled “Does technology control us?” Nye quotes from George Basalla in “The Evolution of Technology” stating “Maintaining roads for wheeled carts and supplying watering sites for horses and oxen was far more expensive, given the terrain and the climate, than opting for the camel, which can carry more, move faster, and travel further, on less food and water, than an ox, needs neither roads nor bridges and is able to traverse rough ground and ford rivers and streams.” I feel that in this particular chapter Nye discusses in fact if technology does control us and if we are dependent on it. He uses this particular passage to prove that camels are more likely to get the job done and with less money involved. They don’t need paved roads or have to have water every certain hours, a camel is a part of this world and is doesn’t need technology to survive or get the job done. He is showing that things in this world that need to get done, can get done with out the use of technology, which can cause millions of dollars and be confusing to operate to the human eye.
Another source that Nye uses to help answer the question listed is in the chapter “More Security, or Escalating Danger?” Nye is trying to discuss in this chapter when humans and technology mix is causing problems and can be a danger to themselves and everything around them. Nye particularly discusses that when humans try to control nature with technology it can cause more damage then preventing. For example, Nye talks about how making new levees can make floods more destructive, by preventing high water from spreading out and slowing down, instead channeling larger amounts downstream. (p. 1650 He uses the passage from Ted Steinberg in Acts of God, “The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America” stating “Human attempts to control nature have not solved a problem but intensified it. The scale of the disaster is often further escalated by human error- For example, building houses on river flood plains or along the Florida coast, where hurricanes regularly blast through.” I feel that Nye uses this quote very well because natural disasters are unpredictable and are going to happen and he uses this passage to prove that human error can occur when using technology to try and control it. Nye Is trying to show that human error is a part of every day life. Humans are going to make mistakes, such as building a house on river flood plains. If people take the time and think about what they are going to do and go over all the consequences with their decision first, there might be less human error.
I feel that a stakeholder Nye is representing is the general population. He is focusing on what is best for the world and if technology is either helping us or hurting us, whether human error can be prevented with dealing with less technology and more with our minds. I feel that stakeholder he is leaving out is all the people who are trying to help fix natural disasters or try to make the world a safe place to live in. there are people who have good intentions to try and make the world better, but technology can be confusing and with human error involved it can lead to a messy place. I feel people have good intensions and Nye is trying to portray that, but also saying that things will go wrong that are unexplainable and unpredictable and maybe less things will go wrong with not letting technology take over our lives.