1. The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in “advanced” countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. It will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world, it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in “advanced” countries.
5. In this article we give attention to only some of the negative developments that have grown out of the industrial-technological system. Other such developments we mention only briefly or ignore altogether. This does not mean that we regard these other developments as unimportant. For practical reasons we have to confine our discussion to areas that have received insufficient public attention or in which we have something new to say. For example, since there are well-developed environmental and wilderness movements, we have written very little about environmental degradation or the destruction of wild nature, even though we consider these to be highly important.
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===INTRODUCCIÓN===
1. La Revolución Industrial y sus consecuencias han acarreado desastres a la especie humana. Han aumentado la esperanza de vida de los que vivimos en países "avanzados", pero han desestabilizado la sociedad, hecho la vida poco satisfactoria, han sometido a los seres humanos a indignidades, han conducido a un extendido sufrimiento psicológico (en el Tercer Mundo, también a sufrimiento físico) y han infligido severos daños a la naturaleza. La continuación del desarrollo tecnológico empeorará la situación. Con seguridad someterá a los seres humanos a mayores indignidades, infligirá mayores daños a la naturaleza, probablemente conducirá a más ruptura social y sufrimiento psicológico, y puede conducir al aumento del sufrimiento físico aún en los países "avanzados".