unintended consequences for an emerging technology

Running Head : Unintended Consequences

Unintended Consequences of

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UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Coyne (2008 ) and Merton (1936 ) have defined Unintended Consequence (UC ) as an outcome different from what has been intended . Merton (1936 even adds that these UC 's are either foreseen or unforeseen but are likely the results of the interventions or programs implemented . This occurs as the imperfections of the world and people leads any purposeful action to produce an unforeseen result known as the law of unintended consequences (Merton , 1936

Robert Merton , having

popularized this idea of John Smith , points out that the causes for UC 's are , namely : a ) human ignorance where it is a fact that it is impossible to anticipate everything thereby leading to incomplete expectations of results b ) errors from incorrect analysis of problems arising from habits and traditions that worked in the past but do not in the present c ) immediate interests overriding long-term goals d ) basic values and traditions that does not permit new ideas and , e )self-defeating prophecy where people are likely to admit failure when early trials seem difficult (Merton , 1936

Serendipity and Perversity

UC 's , as opposed to common connotation , is not all bad (Coyne , 2008 These UC 's are either positive unexpected benefits , referred to as serendipity or windfall , or negative or perverse effects , contradicting to what it was originally intended (Merton , 1936

Positive UC 's can be seen in the sunken ships of the World War as this lead to the beautiful , scientifically...