他們和愛因斯坦一樣,因自己的發明而后悔
????“我有罪,”聽聞廣島遭原子彈襲擊,愛因斯坦喃喃說道。 ????發明家和科研工作者對他們的發明感到后悔的情形,其實并不罕見。雖然愛因斯坦并未直接參與原子彈的研制,但他認為自己是始作俑者,并對此深感后悔。 ????與之類似,炸藥和其它武器技術的發明者阿爾弗萊德?諾貝爾設立了諾貝爾和平獎,以表彰和平的促進者,但愛因斯坦認為,諾貝爾這樣做其實是為了贖罪。 ????至于任何一項發明在本質上是否具有正面意義或負面意義,你可以去問問亞瑟?高仕登,他的研究催生了橙劑,這種高效的除草劑本來是用于促進農作物生長的,但在越戰期間,美軍卻將大量橙劑噴灑在越南游擊隊藏身的叢林中,不僅導致環境嚴重受損,還造成了大量畸形兒。 ????高仕登在2003年說:“你知道嗎,沒有哪一件你為科學所做的事,能夠保證為人類帶來福祉。我相信,任何科學發現都是道德中立的,既可以用于建設性目的,也可以被用于破壞性目的。那并不是科學的錯?!?/p> ????不過,依然有一些科學家向公眾致歉,他們也覺得自己發明了難以控制的“怪物”,以下是10個近期或者不太為人所知的例子。 |
????“Woe is me,” said Albert Einstein on learning of the bombing of Hiroshima. ????It’s not unusual for inventors, researchers, and developers to rue their creations. Although Einstein didn’t work directly on the atomic bomb, he regretted his role in encouraging its development. ????Similarly, Alfred Nobel, who developed dynamite and other weapons technologies, launched the Nobel Peace Prize to award promoters of peace,which Einstein interpreted his motivation for establishing the prize as atonement. ????As to whether any invention or discovery is intrinsically positive or negative, ask Arthur Galston, whose research led to the development of Agent Orange, an herbicide intially intended to help grow crops but which caused extensive environmental damage as well as birth defects when used in Vietnam. ????He said in 2003, “You know, nothing that you do in science is guaranteed to result in benefits for mankind. Any discovery, I believe, is morally neutral and it can be turned either to constructive ends or destructive ends. That’s not the fault of science.” ????Still come apologies from those who feel they’ve created a monster. Here are 10 recent or less known examples of such regrets. |
????1.咖啡膠囊(K Cup) ????1992年,約翰?沙利文與Keurig咖啡公司一道發明了這種一次性的速融咖啡膠囊。它造成的不可降解垃圾每年可環繞地球10.5圈。最近他對《大西洋雜志》表示:“有時我為發明這個東西感到后悔?!?/p> ????后來,沙利文創辦了一家名叫Zonbak的光伏企業,期望部分抵銷他的發明對環境帶來的損害。同時,Keurig綠山咖啡公司宣稱將于2020年之前生產一款可以回收的K-Cup膠囊。 |
????1.K Cups ????In 1992, John Sylvain developed the now ubiquitous single-serve, instant brew plastic pods for use with Keurig coffee makers that generated enough non-biodegradable waste last year to encircle the globe 10.5 times. He recently told the Atlantic, “I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it.” ????With his current company Zonbak, he’s in the solar panel business, in hopes of at least partially offsetting his creation’s environmental damage. Meanwhile, Keurig Green Mountain has pledged to create a recyclable K-Cup by 2020. |