e-portfolio for Sebastian Shrady

Sebastian Shrady

WR100

The Neo-human or the role of technology in the future of mankind

For this essay to have reached your hands, numerous technological processes have been used, such as paper manufacturing, transportation, or printing. Technology is in our lives much more than we think, it has connected the world, improved quality of life, and made a lot of things easier. It is seen by most as the future, as "the motor of change that [pushes] society towards the future", but is technology really as positive as people believe? Or will it's consequences end up tearing us down? Emerson believes technology is almighty and powers over man. "Things are in the saddle and ride mankind." In this sentence, Emerson states the basic idea behind his essay: that technology dominates us. That it is like we live in ignorance and permanently believe is it us who ride the saddle, not able to come to terms with the fact that we will always be the horse. Contrary to Emerson, Nye believes it is the decisions we make as individuals, as a society, and ultimately as a species that influence technology's place in our lives. It is only as prevalent as our cultures and choices make it. I believe there is a balance between these great men's ideologies. I believe technology in the right hands can ultimately bring mankind to a new level of prosperity, peace, and harmony. As a species we have made mistakes that threaten everyone and everything around us, and I believe it just takes a small group of brilliant minds to come up with the solutions, and a small group of strong and righteous ones to apply them. Will the world finally follow the select few who have understood how to use technology for our species' advancement, or are we doomed to chaos by humanity's ignorance?

This image of the mainstream ignorance that accompanies technology is indicated in the last sentence of the excerpt, in which Emerson states that the "laws for thing" "doth the man unking". The more powerful advances are, the bigger and more complicated problems become, leading to an endless cycle in which the can only be one victor, and it shall not be man. In trying to find bigger and better ways to gain something, people realize just how far they are from this end, and they realize they have lived the illusion like many before them, just to be unkinged like many before them. Emerson clearly thinks that man is at technology's mercy. "and ride mankind" sums up his idea that despite man's efforts, it falls victim of it's own creations. This bears much similarity with the novel Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, in which an ambitious man's ungodly creation turns against him. We try to advance, and take jump without knowing what's on the other side. Although we may not fully understand something, or its consequences, our desire for control, or fulfillment makes us do it anyway. "Technology is only an instrument and man does not always know how to use it" illustrates perfectly what Emerson states in the ninth and tenth lines of his excerpt. Man rushes to advance as fast as possible in order to gain control of everything around him, and yet he cannot keep up with the speed with which he is advancing. The Marxist thought is very similar to this as well. It states that although man's intentions are always for modernization, and facilitation of the human quality of life, there are always unintended consequences that do just the opposite. A quicker method or machine should theoretically give the worker more spare time, so he can have a more tranquil day while improving the quality of his work. The opposite happens, as the mentality becomes "the quicker you can go, the more you can do" . So new technologies actually make worker's lives harder. Scientific and technological advances seem to be steering us not toward the utopia that evolutionary socialists describe, but rather toward a state of unhappiness, exploitation, and an ignorant and selfish desire for supremacy that will slowly but steadily descend us into chaos. We have seen the future that this road steers us towards in movies such as "Terminator", where the machines that men create turn against them, much like Frankenstein. These are obviously exaggerations, but the message they send is a very real and truthful one.

Nye is in disaccord with Emerson. He doesn't believe in such as thing as an inevitable technology, he believes technology has the place in our society that we let it have. "Rather than assuming that technologies are deterministic, it appears more reasonable to assume that cultural choices shape their uses." Thus, a technology is as necessary as our desire for it is strong. Guns, automobiles, and wheels are some of numerous examples of technologies that many would consider absolutely imperative, and yet that others saw as useless due to certain cultural differences, "awareness of particular tools or machines does not automatically force a society to adopt them or to keep them."

Nye, who says that "no technology is, has been, or will be a "natural force."" Humans have used technology mostly to mimic some natural phenomenon, such as flight, speed, or even floating on water, but no matter how many advances, he claims man will never reach nature's level, let alone surpass it. Our desire to achieve this led to a huge increase in technological advances that immediately "seemed to proliferate more rapidly than the political means to govern it." Here he is contradicting himself, for he is saying that technology was already starting to gain control over us. However, Nye still believes it is up to individual societies to accept or reject it regardless of how the rest of the world acts. He gives an example of this with the Japanese rejection of guns.

Marxists coincide with Nye on this, when they "criticized how capitalists use technical systems, but not industrialization itself." Nye thus emphasizes again how culture and technology are related, how "civilization is a complex of interconnections between social institutions and customs on the one hand, and technology and science on the other." He believes that even though there are mechanical inventions that spark change in our lives, there are also very powerful "social inventions" that have a big impact, even to the point where they have triggered mechanical inventions. This capacity of societies to dominate technology and dictate its influence on them is the basis of Nye argument. It is thus us who dominate technology, and not the opposite.

I, however, do not believe this. I am of a different frame of mind than Emerson and Nye, and think that technology is the answer to the world's problems. I have seen how it has been misused though, and how human nature has prevented it from reaching it's potential. "Modern society's vast ensemble of techniques [has]become self-engendering and [has] accelerated out of humanity's control." However, I sincerely believe technology has the ability to fix the problems humanity has created, and lead mankind to that utopia. We have reached a point,a threshold, in which we cannot, like some suggest, steadily eliminate technology from our lives. It is too late for that. Until now, technological creations have dominated us. We have fallen victims to it's appeal. It's capacity to make us less active and our lives easier is one that it's in our nature to desire. We, as a species, are lazy, and any form of technology that permits us to do less with the same results becomes "necessary". The telegraph, telephone, cellphone, pager, instant message, all allow us to be in contact with people without having to go through the process of visiting or even having to hand-write a letter. I constantly see the most idiotic inventions that serve no purpose other than creating more unnecessary comforts. Unfortunately, even though it's a complete waste of resources and money, it seems to be what the people want. And it is that ignorance exactly that is dooming mankind. People do not realized the severity of our current situation. They don't believe we are in a crisis, despite all the warnings. It seems insane that some people would lie about something of this magnitude just because it's in their political or economical interest to do so. At this point for people to have such twisted priorities is pathetic, and disgusting. These people cannot be allowed to have a say in the future of our kind. There is a very small group of men and women who are capable of having technology reach its full potential. They are different, in a way more advanced, than the rest of the population;they have "evolved", and have the ability to overcome their human nature in order to survive. This group of neo-humans understand the fine balance that exists between technology and the rest of the world, including mankind. Not only do they understand it, they live their lives governed by the true fact that, were this balance to continue to be undone, it would bring destruction. This group, who lives in harmony with technology and what surrounds them, are who must lead us. I agree with the "writers on the left" that Nye talks about when they claim "the only possible antidote to be a dramatic shift in consciousness." And yet, the world isn't showing signs of change. We are in a crisis situation, more severe than people seem to realize, and in such a crisis democracy doesn't work. We are past the point of seeking everyone's personal well-being. A system must be set in place that guides us toward and maintains a society in which technology can reach it's full potential and our species can thrive, and this group must do it. We are at a juncture, and we must decide, for the greater good of mankind and everything that surrounds us, to abandon some freedoms in order to preserve others. There are societies that have thrived while being in an authoritarian system, like the Amish: "Their leaders decide such matters, rather than leaving each individual to choose in the market" , and others who have set one in place in an emergency situation, like Ancient Rome (which is the origin of the word "dictator").

Dean Kamen is a famous inventor, and personal idol, who in my opinion represents the answer to the world's technological problems. He is a neo-human. His corporation, called DEKA, is a center that promotes innovation only in the realm of "helping the world". It is a place where great minds get together to find solutions to some of the world's difficulties. Although they easily could, they don't invent items that are marketable yet useless, only ones that will do some good. That is exactly what mankind needs to finally reach it's potential. This is what the world needs to become that utopia in which mankind doesn't try to surpass nature, but learns to live in perfect harmony with it.