Although last weeks discussion dealt with integration, the power outage at the College of Business and part of downtown Ypsilanti inspired me to write this blog instead on how dependent we are on technology and electricity. Just that little power outage forced some Ypsilanti stores to close for the day (as they couldn’t use their appliances), it made driving through intersections difficult (the traffic lights weren’t working), the COB parking structure a mess (the beam was stuck), students couldn’t use their laptops in class if they weren’t charged (the electrical outlets didn’t work), and our lesson probably would have been cut short if one of our classmates hadn’t had the PowerPoint presentation saved to his hard drive (the classroom computer didn’t work). I couldn’t help but sit and wonder what would happen if the entire city had lost power, or the state, or the country, or the world.
Electricity and technology rules most of our lives. We store our food in refrigerators, communicate via phones and email, are regulated by traffic lights, and manage our work lives on computers, just to name a few. We could eventually get around using electricity and the technology that uses it, but it would slow the pace of our lives down so much, that I believe it would wreak utter havoc on our society (that is too say if we had a power outage for let’s say a month).
One famous example of a “blackout” spreading pandemonium in society was the New York City Blackout of 1977. This was a case of nature versus technology, as several lightning strikes forced faulty circuit breakers to trip and not be able to allow electricity to flow through again. This absence of electricity caused mass rioting, looting, and arson. Another example of power loss is one that we should all be familiar with, the Northeast Blackout of 2003 that affected 55 million people in our region. The cause of this blackout was once again traces back to nature,
In February 2004, the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force released their final report, placing the main cause of the blackout on FirstEnergy Corporation's failure to trim trees in part of its Ohio service area. The report states that a generating plant in Eastlake, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland) went offline amid high electrical demand, putting a strain on high-voltage power lines (located in a distant rural setting) which later went out of service when they came in contact with "overgrown trees". The cascading effect that resulted ultimately forced the shutdown of more than 100 power plants.
This blackout affected power generators, water supply, transportation, communication, and also led to some looting. It is clear to me, that electricity and technology really does play a large roll in our lives.
I have wrote about human dependance on technology many times since we began blogging. This blackout example of yours is just one more definition of human chaos without technology. Oh no the lights went out and I cant check my email!!! We're all going to die!! Ok, little dramatic but seriously light a candle, read a book, god forbid go outside and get some exercise. I dont blame technology for human laziness, I blame the fact that we think we need to be some intuned with technology to live a productive life. Here's an example kids now a days think of hard work when theyre typing on a computer for a few hours; have them try plowing a field with a single horse and man controlled plow.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the author and Mr. Slade, that our society has become far to relient on technology. Technology itself is obviously not a bad thing, but balance is needed for it to be used optimally. People need to use their resources fulfill thier needs, yet be able to know how to function if an emergency, such as a power outage does occur.
ReplyDeleteYou' definitely right, man. Could you imagine a world without it? Imagine just a little bit over 100 years ago. They used candlelight, and that was it! No TV, no cars, nothing but themselves. I think I would have enjoyed living in the time myself, but I'll bet that if they would have known about the technology of today, they would have wanted it BADLY.
ReplyDeleteI understand how once technology fails people will soon panic. I was camping when the blackout hit and didn't know anything about it till we got back in to town two days after the power was resorded. besides lossing some food in the fridge we would have never known about it. I think that this proves that is you don't want this life you have the optoin of living with minuma technology.
ReplyDeleteWe have all gotten very spoiled. We feel if we can't have instant access to the world it's going to end. You can survive with out power but I would hate to have to do it.
ReplyDelete