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In Edward Tenner's book, Why things bite back: Technology and the revenge of unintended consequences (1997), he references a short story titled “A Thing About Machines” in the first chapter. Rod Serling's short story, written in 1961, focuses on a writer named Bartlett Finchley (Tenner, 1997).
After showing continuous rage at electronic appliances and devices, the machines start to turn against him in gruesome ways, eventually resulting in his death (Tenner, 1997). Serling's short story was purely dark fantasy – machines cannot develop personalities and directly cause death (Tenner 1997). Or can they?
Cellphones, the essential communication device of our time, have been linked to cancer (Anderson, 2014). There has been much controversy on this topic, but statistics are worrisome. Cell phone use has been linked to glioma, the most common form of brain cancer (Anderson, 2014). The risk of developing a brain tumour was tripled for individuals who used a cellphone over a period of 25 years (Anderson, 2014). The risk was amplified for those who started using a mobile phone before age 20 (Anderson, 2014). A cellphone may not grow arms and strangle you, Serling style, but it is posing a dangerous threat to your health.
Finchley's car chased him around the neighbourhood, eventually causing him to drown in his pool (Tenner, 1997). While this has most likely never happened to anyone, a certain other unpleasant event has become more prominent in today's world. The combination of texting and driving has lead to many deaths in recent years (Hildebrant, 2013). In Nova Scotia, texting and driving was the highest cause of death in the summer of 2013 (Hildebrant, 2013). In Ontario, 30 percent of highway accidents are caused by distracted driving, the most common distraction being texting (Hidebrant, 2013).
Cell phones and cars, things that were designed to keep us safe, help us communicate, and get us from place to place, have connections to injury, illness, and death. There is no direct linkage – individual habits and behaviour must be taken into consideration here, but the dark side of machines and electronics cannot be denied. In 1961, Finchley only had a handful of electronic devices to battle (Tenner, 1997). Imagine if Serling's story was written today. Finchley would have not gotten home from his office alive.
Works Cited:
Anderson, P. (2014, November 13). Long-term Cell Phone Use Linked to Brain Tumor Risk. Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/834888
Hildebrant, A. (2013, August 19). Cellphones blamed as fatal collisions by 'distracted drivers' up. Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cellphones-blamed-as-fatal-collisions-by-distracted-drivers-up-1.1308025
Tenner, E. (1996). Chapter 1. Ever since Frankenstein. Why things bite back: Technology and the revenge of unintended consequences. New York: Knopf.
After showing continuous rage at electronic appliances and devices, the machines start to turn against him in gruesome ways, eventually resulting in his death (Tenner, 1997). Serling's short story was purely dark fantasy – machines cannot develop personalities and directly cause death (Tenner 1997). Or can they?
Cellphones, the essential communication device of our time, have been linked to cancer (Anderson, 2014). There has been much controversy on this topic, but statistics are worrisome. Cell phone use has been linked to glioma, the most common form of brain cancer (Anderson, 2014). The risk of developing a brain tumour was tripled for individuals who used a cellphone over a period of 25 years (Anderson, 2014). The risk was amplified for those who started using a mobile phone before age 20 (Anderson, 2014). A cellphone may not grow arms and strangle you, Serling style, but it is posing a dangerous threat to your health.
Finchley's car chased him around the neighbourhood, eventually causing him to drown in his pool (Tenner, 1997). While this has most likely never happened to anyone, a certain other unpleasant event has become more prominent in today's world. The combination of texting and driving has lead to many deaths in recent years (Hildebrant, 2013). In Nova Scotia, texting and driving was the highest cause of death in the summer of 2013 (Hildebrant, 2013). In Ontario, 30 percent of highway accidents are caused by distracted driving, the most common distraction being texting (Hidebrant, 2013).
Cell phones and cars, things that were designed to keep us safe, help us communicate, and get us from place to place, have connections to injury, illness, and death. There is no direct linkage – individual habits and behaviour must be taken into consideration here, but the dark side of machines and electronics cannot be denied. In 1961, Finchley only had a handful of electronic devices to battle (Tenner, 1997). Imagine if Serling's story was written today. Finchley would have not gotten home from his office alive.
Works Cited:
Anderson, P. (2014, November 13). Long-term Cell Phone Use Linked to Brain Tumor Risk. Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/834888
Hildebrant, A. (2013, August 19). Cellphones blamed as fatal collisions by 'distracted drivers' up. Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cellphones-blamed-as-fatal-collisions-by-distracted-drivers-up-1.1308025
Tenner, E. (1996). Chapter 1. Ever since Frankenstein. Why things bite back: Technology and the revenge of unintended consequences. New York: Knopf.