Tech Tackling

When I say a printer, what comes to mind is a device that prints stuff on a paper. But recently, using something called a 3D printer, scientists at Princeton "printed" a bionic ear. i.e a working ear piece that anyone can use (and supposedly, it works even better than a "real" ear).

Calling it a printer makes it hard to imagine how you can "print" an ear. It's more like a mini-factory and you can programme it to manufacture anything, provided you know how to do so. Just imagine the endless possibilities this technology offers.

It's quite conceivable that we will start 3D printing every organ, not only human, but of that of every living being. This of course would be the logical thing to do. To help people and make the world better.

But who wants that? What is the first thing that Americans do when they get a hold of this 3D printer? That's right, they print a gun. It's not good enough that you can buy a gun without a license, people now want to manufacture their own guns.

This is shocking and terrifying to say the least. Any person who has a printer can pretty much make his own gun. And what's more, this will contain mostly plastic, unlike the "real" guns, which have a lot of metal parts. In turn , it'll be harder for metal detectors to pick up on these plastic guns. It's not completely plastic, but it'll be a lot easier to sneak guns in.

In effective, a technology that could've been used to completely eliminate any physical disability is in fact, being used to create weapons. There will still be people who try to manufacture eyes and ears and other such organs, but these people will be a small number compared to those who want to produce guns.

I want to believe that humans in general are goodhearted and wish the well being of others. But it is when such incidents come to light, I think, "We're doomed".