Despite being a computer engineer (student), I am actually quite +skeptical of technology and new technological innovations, especially +the more complex and interdependent they become. My exposure to +Primitivist literature has also contributed significantly to this +skepticism, although I always try to be as pragmatic as possible. I say +this so that the reader may know my personal biases on this matter prior +to exposing the topic at hand.
+ +A certain tendency that I believe is very frequent in the +technologically developed world today is one of absolute reliance on +complex technologies, and believing that any solution may have a +technological - or what people will often (erroneously) call +"scientific" - solution. That is to say, the belief that any problem can +be solved with a new technological innovation, and any problems we +currently face only exist because we have not yet (but will) find a +technological solution for them.
+ +It is first worth noting that this is a kind of faith. You can say +it's a faith in technology, "science", or simply human ingenuity, but +ultimately it is faith. The question to ask is whether this faith is +well-founded. Should we have faith in technology as a means of our +salvation? It may sound silly when phrased that way, but this is +ultimately the question. Just that instead of the spiritual salvation +we're speaking of a temporal salvation.
+ +I cannot help but to conclude that this faith is wrongly founded, +since it is faith in something that is ultimately as limited as we are, +and therefore limited by the laws of the universe. If to solve a given +problem simply with a new technology would require breaking the laws of +the universe, then said solution simply isn't going to be possible, +since we are unable to break these laws no matter how hard we may try. +It's also worth noting that technology has a history of not solving the +world's problems, or what's worse, making new ones. We simply have to +consider problems that have always existed, such as poverty, hunger, +war, violence, etc. These have always existed, and they always will. +Technology hasn't saved us nor will it.
+ +However, especially for the religiously inclined, I believe this is a +dangerous kind of faith, as faith in technology ends up turning into an +idolatry of technology, turning it into a new god. Rather than having +faith in God's Divine Will, and changing ourselves to live in accordance +to His Will, we believe that we by means of our own creations may save +ourselves and as such construct a kind of heaven on Earth. This, as any +good Christian will know, falls into three kinds of errors: Pelagianism, +Millenarianism, and idolatry. I've already explained how this becomes +idolatry. It is Pelagian because it expresses an ability for Man to save +himself through his own merits, in this case his own human ingenuity, +therefore believing we do not need God. This is no less than the sin of +the devil, and the temptation which he presented to Adam and Eve. It is +also Millenarianism, as it aims towards the creation of a terrestrial +paradise, for utopia to be created here on Earth rather than God Himself +bringing us into the beatific vision, which we do not deserve but +receive by His Grace and Love alone.
+ +Finally, there is a real possibility of falling into an additional +error, which is that of Gnosticism. This is particularly present in the +ideas of Transhumanism. The idea of transcending our human bodies so as +to surpass its limitations and, once again, be like gods. This +is, by its very essence, an anti-human mentality, as it rejects +something that is innate to human beings: our bodies. We are not spirits +trapped in a body, we are our body and the spirit which +animates it. To separate these is to say that one's foot and one's hand +are not one's body. Both form part of one's body, just as both body and +soul form part of oneself.
+ +Ultimately, I believe this post is more of a rant than anything else, +but I do hope that it gives you, the reader, something to think about +with regards to your relationship with technology in your life, and your +attitude towards technology.