Page 1 - 2104

“Members Helping Members”

April 2021 Volume 38 Issue 01

President's Corner
and speculation. Good things can get bad reputa-
by Greg Skalka, President, Under the Computer tions (like vaccines), while bad things can get mar-
Hood User Group keted as desirable (like tobacco products).
www.uchug.org At the individual level, we all have choices to make

president (at) uchug.org concerning which technologies we trust and which
we do not; which are worth the cost, and which
Our world runs on technology, yet many of our most should be avoided. Everyone approaches this differ-
contentious disagreements involve whether certain ently, bringing our standards, biases, concerns, and
technologies can be trusted, or whether society can experiences. Usually, the benefits are apparent, but
be trusted to use them correctly. Is climate change the downsides of a particular technology are often
real and man-made? Is nuclear power dangerous? hidden and difficult to confirm. They usually involve
Are electronic voting machines accurate? Are vac- aspects of safety and security, and it is very difficult
cines safe? Does cell phone use cause cancer? Is to prove something is completely free of risk. The
it time to put on a tinfoil hat? risks are generally to our personal and financial da-
A strict application of the scientific method should ta. Can we get hacked? Can we get tracked? Is
be able to answer our questions and reveal the someone able to steal from us, or just accumulate
truth, but only if we all trust science. Unfortunately, more information about us than we’d like? Differ-
with humans involved, there are biases, conflicts of ences of opinion on these risks can lead to things
interest, and preferences for one outcome over an- that are popular with many being shunned by some.
other. Another problem is that humans are imper- There are lots of examples of mainstream technolo-
fect, and so everything we make and do is also im- gies that are not trusted by some nominally rational
perfect. Nothing we create is all good; there are al- people. I have some relatives that don’t feel safe
ways downsides to everything. Often the detri- flying and now only travel by car, bus, or train
mental aspects of some new thing are not fully real- (though they had traveled by plane in the past). I
ized until much later. Asbestos seemed like a useful feel from its safety record that flying is generally safe
fireproofing technology until its toxicity became ap- enough, but have never questioned them on why
parent. When the good aspects outweigh the bad they hold this view. John Madden, the former foot-
(in some subjective determination), the tech is ben- ball coach, and sportscaster is reportedly afraid of
eficial. Things are usually not black and white, how- flying and used a bus to travel to games. Some at-
ever, so it is left to individuals and to society to tribute his fear to a Cal Poly football team plane
judge their worth.How we weigh the advantages crash in 1960. I am not aware of any specific inci-
and costs can be based on reputable information, dent that would be the cause of my relatives’ con-
but it can also come from rumors, false narratives,
(Continued on page 4)

April 2021 1