You Never Know

Trey Smith

Human life always has been about progression. We work to come up with new ideas and technology so that we can be more productive. Before the invention of the wheel, we had to carry everything -- including ourselves -- on our own two feet. The revolution of the wheel meant we could carry more with less effort and we could get from Point A to Point B quicker.

But sometimes technology isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes an innovation turns out to create negative impacts that we never imagined. Take, for example, biofuels. The idea was to wean ourselves away from petroleum as our chief fuel. Initially, it looked like a great idea because, we thought, it would be more earth-friendly.

Unfortunately, it has turned out (thus far) not to be earth-friendly at all! In most cases, biofuels cause as many or more environmental concerns than petroleum. In essence, we've replaced one problem fuel with another and we're no better off than before.

Here's another example. There has been a lot of talk recently about the violence inherent in professional (and college) football. Players tend to suffer concussions at an alarming rate and multiple concussions can lead to a whole host of health problems. Many sportswriters and NFL officials are discussing new rules and strategies to make America's favorite sport more safe.

Approximately 50 years ago, football officials were trying to do the same thing (though not due to the concussion issue). One of the strategies implemented was to add a facemask to the football helmet to protect a player's face. At the time, it seemed like such a great idea, but we now realize it caused an unexpected problem.

With the facemask in place, players began to hit each other harder and harder in the head! Since they no longer needed to worry much about broken noses or facial lacerations, players become ferocious head-hunter tacklers.

As Mike Freeman writes in an article at CBS Sports about 10 ways to make the NFL safer,

No facemask would mean chances of huge, illegal hits would drop to almost zero. Players wouldn't risk turning their faces to Swiss cheese.

Hey, players would want to protect their faces (and heads) so not to lose out on millions in endorsement deals!