4. Dealing with Danger
Technologies are not exclusively beneficial; they can also generate dangers that must be anticipated and prevented. However, sometimes companies mismanage these dangers and cause irreparable harm. This chapter describes tragic instances of the irreparable harm that companies have caused, such as the Bhopal chemical plant explosion and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The companies involved, Union Carbide and BP, missed what in retrospect were obvious warnings that could have stopped these tragic events from occurring. This chapter discusses dilemmas in managing dangerous technologies—the cognitive limits of individuals, experts, and organizations in trying to rationally manage them, the issue of how much a life is worth, ...
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