Often engineering decisions affect people of the next genera

Often engineering decisions affect people of
the next generation, and even several generations
to come. A major bridge just celebrated
its 100th anniversary, and it may be able to
stand for another century. This bridge is a
mere piker compared to some of the Roman
engineering feats, of course.
Engineering decisions such as nuclear
waste disposal also affect future generations,
but in a negative way. We are willing this
problem to our kids, their kids, and untold
generations down the line. But should this
be our concern? What, after all, have future
generations ever done for us?
Philosophers have been wrestling with the
problem of concern for future generations,
and without much success. Listed below are

some arguments often found in literature about
why we should not worry about future people.
Think about these arguments, and construct
opposing arguments if you disagree. Be prepared
to discuss these in class.
We do not have to bother worrying about
future generations:
a. These people do not even exist, so they have
no claim to any rights such as moral consideration.
We cannot allow moral claims by
people who do not exist, and may not ever
exist.
b. We have no idea what the future generations
may be like, and what their problems
will be, so it makes no sense to plan for
them. To conserve (not use) nonreplenishable
resources just in case they may need
them makes no sense whatever.
c. If there will be future people, we have no
idea how many, so how can we plan for
them?
d. Future generations will be better off than
each previous generation, given the advance
of technology, so we have no moral obligation
to them.
e. If we discount the future, we find that
reserves of resources are of little use to
future generations. For example, if a barrel
of oil will cost, say $100, 50 yr from now,
how much would that barrel cost today?
Assume an interest rate of 5%. Clearly,
from your answer it makes no sense to conserve
a barrel of oil today that is worth only
the pennies you calculated.

Solution

Yes, future generation should be our concern.

a. No it\'s not true. Philosophers exist everywhere on the earth surface. There is a special and scientific relation between human and nature, that\'s what the philosophers always tries to defend. Therefore if human maintains a healthy and constructive relationship with the nature, in turn he/she will get the positive results for the present as well as for future generations to come. This is purely a scientific relationship between a human and nature, which has a history of thousands of years, so we can\'t deny the claims by philosophers who really exist.

b. In terms of leading a life, all the generations have only option to live on the earth. So, human life which started thousands of year ago will definitely knows what may future generation should have to lead a healthy or systematic life. Even though the technology changes generation by generation, the nonrenewable resources that exists on the earth neither be produced nor replaced by humans. Therefore we should provide or maintain the healthy environment and natural resources to the coming generations irrespective of their choices and technological upgrade.

c. In today\'s modern world, we have a group of well educated people who can predict the future population on the basis of existing population growth data. Moreover, now a days so many countries started to prevent the population explosion and have their views of the effect of over population on the country. Therefore we can guess the amount of approximate possible future generation to come.

d. Technology advancement is a great achievement, in which the new generations are involving more. At the same time we should take care of the surrounding environment by analyzing the possible harms that can be caused by the advancements in technology. Because the effect may not be sudden, it may be in the future days. So the advancement in technology and the healthy relationship with the environment should be considered simultaneously. Therefore moral values should be there for our kindness.

e. Yes of course, in terms of the cost or money the example will show the less importance of saving the non-renewable resources like oil. But real concern is not only about the cost but also the availability of alternative and renewable resources. If this generation will not keep in mind about the conservation of these type of resources, then the future generation may have to struggle a lot to in finding the alternative and they may need to spend a huge investment on the research itself. Instead of unnecessary wastage, the same investment can be done in the research of eco-friendly inventions, which matches with all generations.