Technology doesn't have to be evil to drive a vicious cycle.
The problems of present-day technology are solved with new technology, which in turn result in newer problems, which will eventually require even newer technology to solve the problems of the latest technology. However, this is only possible if the latest problems are tackled and solved, which will eventually require a much more advanced technology...
The densely populated cities as we know them today have been around for 150 years. Characterized by stone, concrete and glass, the paved streets become a hotplate in summer. Ventilation is rarely successful because most rooms do not have windows opening in two directions and often windows cannot be opened at all. Luckily there are air conditioners! Cheerfully humming away, they pump the heat from inside to outside, the energy they consume also turns into heat, and so the urban hotplate continues to warm up. Each time someone turns their air conditioner up a notch,
Technology’s Vicious Cycle
has gone one step further.
In the Chinese region of Sichuan, pesticides have been used to such a large extent that insects have nearly become extinct. Since the 1980s, farmers in Sichuan have been doing the work of bees by pollinating the orchards by hand. It should not be surprising that in Europe, individual insect species also become extinct, seeing as pesticides have reduced insect biomass by 80% since 1970. The consequences are unpredictable, but there is a modern solution in the works. Pollinator drones are already being developed and despite purportedly solving one crisis, are continuing to perpetrate
Technology’s Vicious Cycle
. However, not all insects will be mechanically replaceable, and it is not yet certain whether the extinction of insects is desirable at all.