The Toulmin Argument Essay: The Inevitable Future

Jesse Roach
Stidham
Eng 112-4144
Toulmin Argument Essay
October 8, 2014
The Inevitable Future It is hard to argue the fact that our future will see technological advances that will shape and change the way people go about their lives. Although change is imminent, it is unknown exactly how and to what degree these changes will impact society as a whole. These types of questions are the focal points of arguments set up by two highly respected technological minds, Ray Kurzweil and Bill Joy, who take two very different stances on what they believe will be the consequences of our expanding technology sectors, specifically biotechnology. Kurzweil paints a prettier portrait of the future while Joy cites previous events as grim omens. Kurzweil’s
It’s safe to say that Kurzweil very passionately supports the development of said nanobots and his description of the near future seems to have roots closer to fairy tales rather than reality. He discusses at length the many benefits of this emerging technology while having very little to say on any of the possible repercussions that could come along. The idea of robots which can, in essence, control whether or not people live or die would obviously present many more problems than the new Olympic rules that Kurzweil presents as one of his few downsides. These miniature robots would bring up countless moral, financial, and political dilemmas. Kurzweil focus is mostly pointed towards the medical applications of nanobots which he believes will be able to substantially extended human life and be one of the most effective ways to fight disease. While it is hard to dispute these things it raises the question of whether or not humans should have that
Joy describes an almost dystopian future that he believes would be a direct result from the increasing speed of technological advancement. While Joy agrees with the inevitability of developing radically new technology he expresses fear of how people will use them and the consequences of those actions. His references to the atomic bomb is a great example of the last time people got ahold of a technology that had vastly negative impact on the world. This example paired with the fact that new technologies are normally available only to those that have more money and power would definitely support the idea that Joy’s vision of the future is at least in some ways plausible. Although these things do support Joy’s argument, his doom and gloom scenario also ignores some fairly important points as well. With technology like nanobots that could extend the human life, we open up the opportunity for the world’s best and brightest to extend the time they have to solve the problems that severely limit our world, resources, and our people. So while the emerging technology may present multitudes of problems it also presents the opportunity to have more options of solving said problems as well. Joy’s also discusses the ways in which the government could potentially abuse these new technologies but fails to acknowledge that a new generation will be running the world by the time