Any technological advance can be dangerous. Fire was dangerous from the start, and so (even more so) was speech — and both are still dangerous to this day — but human beings would not be human without them.

Any technological advance can be dangerous. Fire was dangerous from the start, and so (even more so) was speech - and both are still dangerous to this day - but human beings would not be human without them.

Even as a youngster, though, I could not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presented danger, the solution was ignorance. To me, it always seemed that the solution had to be wisdom. You did not refuse to look at danger, rather you learned how to handle it safely.

Many of the dangers we face indeed arise from science and technology — but, more fundamentally, because we have become powerful without becoming commensurately wise. The world-altering powers that technology has delivered into our hands now require a degree of consideration and foresight that has never before been asked of us.

Knowledge is dangerous.

Many forms of new knowledge are potentially dangerous, the energy of the atom being a preeminent example. But instead of curtailing inquiry Western societies have in general assumed that the better policy is to continue exploration in confidence that the rewards can be reaped and the risks managed. It is hard to see why exploration of the human genome and its racial variations should be made an exception to this principle, even though researchers and their audience must first develop the words and concepts to discuss a dangerous subject objectively.

The saying that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing is, to my mind, a very dangerous adage. If knowledge is real and genuine, I do not believe that it is other than a very valuable possession, however infinitesimal its quantity may be. Indeed, if a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?

Technology is dangerous."
"How do you mean?"
"It can provide horrendous weapons to idiots.

There are certain truths that, in themselves, are as dangerous as any advanced technology.

A little knowledge is said to be a dangerous thing, but it is not dangerous to the imagination. Knowledge is to the imagination what fuel is to flame. A little feeds it; a great deal extinguishes it.

After all, all devices have their dangers. The discovery of speech introduced communication — and lies. The discovery of fire introduced cooking — and arson. The discovery of the compass improved navigation — and destroyed civilizations in Mexico and Peru. The automobile is marvelously useful — and kills Americans by the tens of thousands each year. Medical advances have saved lives by the millions — and intensified the population explosion.

The wisdom which knows what are and are not dangers is opposed to the ignorance of them

My ignorance wasn’t just annoying. It was dangerous.

Even as a youngster, though, I could not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presented danger, the solution was ignorance.