Scaredy Cats

Two articles I came across recently online that show how people have a tendency to worry about advances in technology, even when there is no reason to, and when this new technology can bring benefits if we just let it.

The first is from Spiked and is called Mobile phones are safe, but lets panic anyway. Spiked editor Brendan O'Neill argues that lots of people, egged on by journalists, want to believe that mobile phones are dangerous. This is despite a series of scientific studies which show that there are no short to medium term dangers from mobile phone radiation, and no evidence showing long term damage either.

O'Neill points out that even scientists themselves, when publicising their results, are careful to say that although they can't find any dangers, they can't be sure they are 100 per cent safe. And even though nothing is 100 per cent safe, newspapers then react with headlines such as ‘Mobile phones don’t cause cancer in the short-term. Long-term, who knows?’ (London Times).

The second is from Reason magazine and looks at whether organic food is healthier, better for the environment or nutritionally superior compared to food grown on large farms using pesticides or organic modification. According to the science, its not.

Key quote from the Reason story:

"Look folks, eat all the organic food you want. Just don't be fooled into thinking that you're doing something good for your health or for the health of the planet. You're not."

My guess would be a majority of people still think that radiation from mobile phones is probably dangerous and that eating organic food is good for your health. Why are these ideas so widespread despite the evidence to the contrary? I dunno.

O'Neill goes on to argue that there is a general irrational fear of new technology running through society, which is not just causing us to worry a little about getting cancer from mobiles but use them anyway (or cause us to spend a little extra on organic potatoes), but is actually stopping us from taking full advantage of benefits of modern technology to do things like spread information and provide cheap food to people who need it.

Key quote:

"This fear of mobiles is likely to be doing more damage than mobiles themselves, certainly in the here and now. While we can be fairly sure that mobile phones are not damaging our health, the precautionary principle is harming society: it is slowing down new technological developments, stunting investment in newer and improved forms of communication, and spreading fear and queasiness amongst the population."

Them's the breaks.