 “What about Oppenheimer’s invention of the bomb… should it not have been discovered?

” –
Stephen Colbert

This question, when presented to Neil DeGrasse Tyson was efficiently answered with Oppenheimer
himself’s answer, ‘If God didn’t want this power to be there, he wouldn’t have put it in the atom in the
first place’. Tyson further elaborates that the world is available to us, and it is not the fault of Knowledge
that it has been used in such a destructive way. The world is accessible to us, and I believe that harnessing
and learning about the workings of the world is a responsibility that falls unto humanities’ hands.

In the same sense, the invention of gunpowder isn’t necessarily a bad development. During their
search for a life-extending elixir in the 9th century CE, Chinese monks found the technology to create
gunpowder. It was originally used for medicinal purposes to compare and evaluate saltpeter’s purity.
Today it is commonly used for warfare and thus, some people might argue that its use in the end is merely
as a destructive agent, but is also an essential part of mining, quarrying, road construction and even for
entertainment such as pyrotechnics. It is listed as one of the ‘Four Great Inventions of China’ and
arguably, one of the most useful inventions in catapulting humanity’s modernization as it birthed modern
artillery and less personnel-oriented warfare.

Another invention that comes to mind, and was specifically made for torture at first, was the
treadmill. It was originally called the ‘treadwheel’ and was invented by Sir William Cubitt in 1818. It was
designed to punish prisoners and break their will by the monotony and hard labor that it brings. Prisoners
are forced to tread on the wheel which in turn pumps out water or breaks down grain. One prisoner
confides that it has weakened him greatly that a week or so in the treadwheel is comparable to years of
manual labor by other methods. But compared to the initial usage of it, years of patenting and changes on
it, treadmills continue to be the most popular type of workout equipment by a wide margin. It has helped
tremendously from space-saving neighborhoods where communal jogging areas are not available to
patients or elderly who are in need of physical therapy.

The creation of inventions, no matter how ‘evil’ society may deem it at first is, is merely the
beginning of its life. Scientists and inventors along the line will always find better usage for it and
develop it to help mankind in less harmful ways. Going back to the interview of N.D. Tyson, he
elaborates that what we need is to control the behavior of the people who are in possession of such
knowledge. Humans will always make the choice; inventions are merely tools that we use to further
advance our own agenda. As Tim O’ Reilly, founder of O’Reilly Media, puts it ‘An invention has to make
sense in the world it finishes in, not in the world it started.’
REFERENCES:

 Stephen Colbert Interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson at Montclair Kimberley Academy -

2010-Jan-29. (2011, November 28). [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXh9RQCvxmg

 "J. Robert Oppenheimer". Institute for Advanced Study. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011

 Gunpowder: Origins in the East. (n.d.). J Laaw Workplace.

https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/7687.html#:

%7E:text=%E2%80%9CGunpowder%2C%E2%80%9D%20as%20it%20came,for%20a

%20life%2Dextending%20elixir.

 Chase, Kenneth (2003), Firearms: A Global History to 1700, Cambridge University

 Cressy, David (2013), Saltpeter: The Mother of Gunpowder, Oxford University Press

 De loopband werd oorspronkelijk gebruikt om gevangenen te martelen. (2017, April 13).

Business Insider Nederland. https://www.businessinsider.nl/treadmills-torture-device-

prisoners-treadwheel-victorian-britian-crime-prison-2017-4?international=true&r=US

 Top Treadmill Manufacturers in the USA. (n.d.). Thomas: A Xometry Company.

https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/top-suppliers/treadmill-manufacturers-suppliers/

 Ten of the Best: Quotes about Invention. (2021, July 5). IdeaConnection.

https://www.ideaconnection.com/blog/inventions/ten-of-the-best-quotes-about-

invention.html#:%7E:text=An%20invention%20has%20to%20make,in%20the%20world
 %20it%20started.&text=Human%20subtlety%20will%20never%20devise,lacking%2C

%20and%20nothing%20is%20superfluous.&text=I%20don’t%20think%20necessity

%20is%20the%20mother%20of%20invention.