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