Organics VS Mechanics

We as a society have grown incredibly dependent upon technology as we use it to make our everyday lives less of a burden.  While there is no denying the rapid advancement of technology of the past few decades being extremely valuable to our growth as a species, the long-term effects could diminish our own independence.  Technologies have contributed to our understanding of ourselves the universe and what the possibilities may hold for the future of our race.  The irony in this is that, “we may have ‘made’ the machines but now, in a very real sense, they make us,” which is especially true to the extent it has even been touched upon in films such as Pixars feature film ‘Wall-E’. (Shaw, 2008, pg.88)   

As we thrive and build upon technology that makes our lives better we lose touch of what we did to adapt and survive in the first place before it even came along.  Our reliance on ourselves is essentially diminished and we are left with an essential expectation that technology will push us forward without us even attempting to control the final destination.  While we grow and prosper with these new technologies we can argue that it is destroying what it means to be human.  The idea of the perfect ‘soldier’ would be one that obeys orders and makes decisions based on calculations, not emotion.  The real question we should be asking is can we trust mankind to protect itself?  Somehow we have to believe that human decency will triumph over our desire to technologically advance ourselves.

Our love of technology now makes us wonder what possibilities lie in wait for fundamentally changing who we are.  We must remember that while technology gives us strength, this can lead to dominance, which can lead the way to abuse.  Using technology to become something more than we are can risk our ability to love and make moral choices, the very thing that make us human.  We can only hope this isn’t what the future holds.  

Shaw, C (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts (Oxford: Berg Press)