The Evolution Of Technology

Along with medicine and other things which perform a practical function, technology is one of the only great uses of science beyond fueling subjective curiosity or satisfaction, as it falls short of the metaphysical and epistemological status of logic in every way.  Across the historical record, mechanical technology and prolonged, demanding tasks have in many cases become replaced by electronic technology and faster, less strenuous labor.  The word technology might be more commonly associated in the present with cars, weaponry, and electronic devices than with strictly mechanical technology like stone gears and pulleys, but there is a broader spectrum of tools and devices than either kind of instrument or machine alone would represent.  For a historical example of the mechanical kind, the alleged defenses of Syracuse employed by Archimedes in 213-212 BC against the Romans would also fall into this category, which reportedly included a crane-like device called the Claw of Archimedes that could lift ships out of the water or help tip them over.

These would be mechanical technologies rather than electronic, but they are still technology all the same.  Even conventional firearms, in spite of their moving parts and ability to launch projectiles, are not electronic in nature, in contrast with the likes of UAV drones, tanks, or tasers, which have their electric components.  Mechanical technology is useful and even today has its strengths like resistance to EMPs, and it has long been part of the historical record.  Technology, however, brushes up against more than mere practicality and subjective scientific awe.  It can reflect the ideological priorities of cultures even as its use has its own moral dimensions.  Ironically, much hostility towards technology in the present era is directed at its electronic forms not on the basis of what electronics themselves are or moral truths, but on the basis of how they might be used or on the basis of how it makes someone feel.  Perhaps people who emotionalistically despise or fear modern technology, in addition to simply being irrational regardless, have not truly seen how much they likely take for granted the pragmatic benefits of the modern age.

Would they want to rely on horse-drawn carriages instead of motor vehicles?  Torches or candles for light instead of electric lanterns or flashlights, the latter of which is even included as a function in plenty of cell phones?  Mail delivered by bird or by horse riders (such as with the short-lived Pony Express of 1860-1861 America) instead of near-instant text messages or emails?  As comparing almost any older technology with its modern counterparts reveals, it is electricity that has so thoroughly transformed technology that convenience and safety far beyond the reach of past generations is now commonplace.  Transportation, lighting, communication systems, workplace compensation, entertainment, and more are more efficient or more developed because of electronic technology.  Contemporary technology indeed has potential dangers in its misuse just as any preceding technology did, but despite its greater reach and impact today, technology itself cannot ever be the problem; it is how people use it.

People who dislike or complain about technology in its more prominent electronic forms of the 21st century either take for granted what life would be like without electric devices or have stupidly assumed that something must be evil because it could be used destructively, or because it makes them personally feel uncomfortable.  Conscience and pragmatic consequences are of no relevance to whether morality exists or how one could know what is truly good or evil, for the former is nothing but subjective perception and the latter is nothing more than what comes about from an action or mental state.  Even on the level of daily life and not strictly the abstract truths that govern all things, those who irrationalistically oppose technology would probably not last a few days or weeks without succumbing to desperation or difficulty if they actually tried to separate themselves from the triumphs of technology.

Nonetheless, newer developments such as the internet or nuclear weaponry make it all the more obvious even to non-rationalists that technology can significantly contribute to the safety or damnation of humanity.  Scientific innovations provide new ways to participate in sins that no one needs technology to carry out.  Fools will think that technology is the problem instead of the people who use it for immoral ends, yet the conveniences offered by modern advances will probably be too enticing for even those who hate current technology to give it up.  The evolution of technology always provides each person, generation, and culture the opportunity to use something that could be an inspiration for more rationalistic reflection for either selfish or rational ends.  Hypocritical dislike of technology from the same people who admire its efficiencies and eagerly use it is what is more commonly found than rationalistic awareness, as unfortunate as this disregard for truth and the destructive consequences of this for individuals and societies are.