If you’re reading this article, chances are you enjoy using technology (or at least a computer, obviously). But there are some people out there who don’t like where the world is heading. While scanning the headlines in my RSS reader today, two jumped out at me. The first headline is: Experts believe violence could accompany Internet’s evolution. Will we really see a popular uprising or revolt against the increasing use of technology to monitor our public and private lives? Is there a tipping point where someone says enough and decides to try to end it via violent attacks?

The second headline reads: Al-Qaeda Iraq Leader Calls For Kidnapping, Bio/Rad Weapon Attacks on US Bases in Iraq. With the advances in technology and availability of information available, it’s definitely possible for groups to harness destructive power and cause devastation on a level that just a decade or two ago was unimaginable to most people.

There is an episode of The Outer Limits called Final Exam that deals with the advance of knowledge, technology, and the possible future we face as a species. Is there a point where it will be possible for just one person to cause the destruction of mankind? Will terrorists, no matter their cause, utilize the knowledge and power available to them to cause such destruction? It is my hope we don’t find out, but these are questions we and our leaders should be asking if we are to survive. I’ll offer up the beginning and ending quotes from “Final Exam” as points to ponder.

“They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. But what of the man who possesses too much knowledge?”

“If knowledge is power and power corrupts… how will humankind ever survive?”

Tags: privacy, rfid, technology, violence, outer limits, final exam