The Technology Trap
Where Human Error and Malevolence Meet Powerful Technologies
1st Edition
Published on 2. September 2010
408 pages
978-0-313-37889-8 (ISBN)
Description
In this eye-opening book, author Lloyd J. Dumas argues that our capacity for developing ever more powerful technologies and the unavoidable fallibility of both machine and man will lead us towards a disaster of an unprecedented scale.
Most of us assume that those in charge can always find a way to control any technology mankind creates, no matter how powerful. But in a world of imperfect human beings who are prone to error, emotion, and sometimes to malevolent behavior, this could be an arrogant-and disastrous-assumption.
This book is filled with compelling, factual stories that illustrate how easy it is for situations to go terribly wrong, despite our best efforts to prevent any issue. The author is not advocating an anti-technology "return to nature," nor intending to highlight the marvels of our high-tech world. Instead, the objective is to reveal the potential for disaster that surrounds us in our modern world, elucidate how we arrived at this predicament, explain the nature and ubiquity of human fallibility, expose why proposed "solutions" to these Achilles heels cannot work, and suggest alternatives that could thwart human-induced technological disasters.
Most of us assume that those in charge can always find a way to control any technology mankind creates, no matter how powerful. But in a world of imperfect human beings who are prone to error, emotion, and sometimes to malevolent behavior, this could be an arrogant-and disastrous-assumption.
This book is filled with compelling, factual stories that illustrate how easy it is for situations to go terribly wrong, despite our best efforts to prevent any issue. The author is not advocating an anti-technology "return to nature," nor intending to highlight the marvels of our high-tech world. Instead, the objective is to reveal the potential for disaster that surrounds us in our modern world, elucidate how we arrived at this predicament, explain the nature and ubiquity of human fallibility, expose why proposed "solutions" to these Achilles heels cannot work, and suggest alternatives that could thwart human-induced technological disasters.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN-13
978-0-313-37889-8 (9780313378898)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2010
Praeger Publishers Inc
€79.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Lloyd J. Dumas is a social scientist and engineer.
Content
- Cover
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Part I: Threatening Ourselves
- 1 Human Fallibility and the Proliferation of Dangerous Technologies
- 2 Dangerous Technologies and the Terrorist Threat
- Part II: What Could Go Wrong?
- 3 Losing Control (of Dangerous Materials)
- 4 Accidents Do Happen
- Appendix Tables: Major Accidents Related to Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 5 Accidental War with Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Part III: Why It Can Happen Here: Understanding the Human Factor
- 6 Substance Abuse and Mental Illness
- 7 The Character of Work
- the Conditions of Life
- Part IV: "Solutions" That Do Not Work
- 8 Seeking Safety in Numbers: The Reliability of Groups
- 9 Making Technology Foolproof
- 10 Computers Instead of People
- Part V: Finding Solutions That Do Work
- 11 Judging Risk
- 12 Escaping the Trap: Four Steps for Preventing Disaster
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Y
- Z
