The more powerful technology becomes, the less we can tolerate its misuse by a few. The possibility of its misuse by a few can never be excluded, especially in a complex society with an atomised society, and much "alienation" and "anomie." In such a society, powerful technology requires large and pervasive security forces as we have seen, but the subordination of those forces to the interests of the society is doubtful.
A potentially powerfully destructive technology which is cheap and can be used by individuals or very small numbers of people may not be tolerable at all. The nature of survivable technology depends on the technical possibility of its misuse and the strength of the motivation for its misuse. Godlike powers require godlike wisdom and restraint. They are not to be looked for among humans. We are not very far from the Holocaust, Hiroshima, the Soviet Gulag, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution in China. The war in Iraq is still going on. We show little sign of dealing effectively with either the climate crisis or peak oil. Optimism about human behaviour is not warranted by the evidence. "Progress" seems to be not general but highly localized and limited. Just what makes you think that Hitler, Stalin and Curtis LeMay were not "truly human?" Doug Woodard St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada David House wrote: > > Peter, > > Good to hear from you again... > > Guag Meister wrote: >> [...] So many times with technology we find that the last condition is >> worse than the first. Extrapolating this out to its logical conclusion, >> we find that all technology advances are bad. Could this be the reason >> that almost all religious leaders (and by that I mean Jesus, Mohammad, >> Bhuddha, etc) shun technology. Anyone that proposes technological fixes >> will find themselves at odds with Jesus. Um, who do you think is right? >> >> Sure technology has given us open heart surgery and moonflight, but 500 >> years from now, if planet earth is burnt and lifeless due to our actions >> (air and water pollution, nuclear exchange, global warming, infectious >> disease, extinctions, etc.), then what can we say about technology? The >> last condition is much worse than the first, even if the first is a >> caveman existance and even including leprosy and black plague etc. > > I'm not aware that any of the great Teachers shunned technology. Could > you offer any quotes or evidence in that regard? In part I question this > because it seems to me that the whole thrust of those Teachers is to > foster an ever-advancing civilization. > > Technology as part of that evolution has a far larger share than you > have indicated-- as witnessed by this conversation, where you in > Thailand and me in Oregon (US) are able to share thoughts, and educate > one another, even though we are rather beyond shouting distance. (In > fact, do forgive me for pointing out that these are odd statements to > make, given the means used to make them. As might be evident, if you > practice what you preach, no one will hear you.) > > But beyond that, the ability to create a "simple" hammer depends on > advances in the technology of steel alloys. Building the factory and and > engaging in distribution depend on advances in a bewildering slew of > technologies, including the magic of compounding interest and the > invention of modern transport. You grow things, to take another example. > Agriculture, however practiced, is larded with technology and > technological advances: understanding of the seasons; calendars; plows > or no-till, take your pick; understanding of biology and ecology; > advances in the understanding of weather and its prediction; even the > invention of language and math. > > But ultimately, even given the large share that technology has in > civilization, the problem is not technology and the Teachers have never > particularly emphasized it, because what takes a larger share in Their > thinking (at least as I read those various scriptures), is advances in > ethics and virtue. Technology, after all, is merely a tool. A lab coat, > by itself, has no power to do anything. A test tube cannot act to harm > anyone. A computer, absent instructions otherwise, will simply be a > device for converting electricity into heat. The point, obviously, is > that any of these things require human intention to either help or harm, > create or destroy. It's not all that hard to use a convenient rock to > kill someone, and technology need have no part in that. > > Granted, where the means have been developed, Predator drones, atomic > weapons, weaponized small pox, tanks, missiles and guns will allow > someone with bad intentions to more efficiently act on those intentions. > But those Teachers were nothing if not practical (again, at least as I > see it). And for anyone, anywhere, at any time, to say "Stop! Don't use > technology! Forget what you know!" would be silly, foolish, senseless, > and without any effect. There are probably tens if not hundreds of > thousands of people in the world who, with fairly simple tools and > modest resources, could build a Kalashnikov rifle, and any reasonable > analysis of the real problems of war in the world today would have to > admit that small arms cause far more devastation than any battleship or > atom bomb. > > So. We cannot go backwards. And we cannot stay here. The only reasonable > action is to move forward, and that direction is defined by improvements > in the peace and well being of every human being, man, woman and child, > in the world. Further, the only possible way to achieve such ends is to > change the hearts. This clearly follows from Einstein's maxim that we > have become technological giants while remaining moral midgets. From my > point of view, then, the question which should underlie every effort we > make in our lives is: how can be be of benefit to others? How can I > improve my armamentarium of virtues, the fundamental tools required for > me to be truly human? > > > > d. > -- > David William House > > "The Complete Biogas Handbook" |www.completebiogas.com| > > "No matter how far the material world advances, it cannot > establish the happiness of mankind. Only when material and > spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated will > happiness be assured. Then material civilization will not > contribute its energies to the forces of evil in destroying > the oneness of humanity, for in material civilization good > and evil advance together and maintain the same pace." > > 'Abdu'l-Baha, /The Promulgation of Universal Peace/, p. 109 > |http://bahai.us| > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: /pipermail/attachments/20081226/d5f7b766/attachment.html > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
