Not to replace life, but to enhance it; not to renounce life, but to promote it. This is precisely the way - to see technology as an extension of ourselves, as an intrinsic part of ourselves. Our relationship to technology is deeply disordered when we see it as something external that dominates us. Rather than the algorithm being an extension of our mind, we try to replace mind with algorithm, and thereby become mechanical - not in truth, that's impossible, we are organic beings, but rather we begin to LARP as robots. It's a form of idolatry, really: we imagine that the divine gift is itself divine, and in that inversion pervert the holy gift.
The argument presented here reminds me of a point Charles Eisenstein has made: that our problem is not that we are too materialistic, but rather that we have grown to hate matter, to see it as something dead and lifeless. The way out of our nihilistic malaise is not to renounce matter, it is to fall in love with the material world again, to see and experience it not as mere inanimate, mechanical stuff, but as living and vibrant, possessed of its own spirit and intelligence. Just so with our relationship to technology.
This essay reminds me of these letters by a group of young technologists, who essentially are wrestling with the notion that as creators of technology it is imperative for and beholden upon creators to consider what you call tehkne and the relation to both culture and history.
Great piece. Always thought provoking and well written. Thank you.
Which is more powerful, fire or "money?"
Tolma, I would love your thoughts on the parabolic growth of technology relative to the speed at which bankers with monopolies can create "money" ex nihilo. Unlimited funds for every possible psychopathy, demon, vice, and noble intention. Surely this self-granted tool must be a factor, no?
Might humankind have advanced faster than it could adequately digest and adapt philosophically, intellectually, and psychologically? Could a civilization artificially supercharged in such a manner be the cause of its very demise?
Not to replace life, but to enhance it; not to renounce life, but to promote it. This is precisely the way - to see technology as an extension of ourselves, as an intrinsic part of ourselves. Our relationship to technology is deeply disordered when we see it as something external that dominates us. Rather than the algorithm being an extension of our mind, we try to replace mind with algorithm, and thereby become mechanical - not in truth, that's impossible, we are organic beings, but rather we begin to LARP as robots. It's a form of idolatry, really: we imagine that the divine gift is itself divine, and in that inversion pervert the holy gift.
The argument presented here reminds me of a point Charles Eisenstein has made: that our problem is not that we are too materialistic, but rather that we have grown to hate matter, to see it as something dead and lifeless. The way out of our nihilistic malaise is not to renounce matter, it is to fall in love with the material world again, to see and experience it not as mere inanimate, mechanical stuff, but as living and vibrant, possessed of its own spirit and intelligence. Just so with our relationship to technology.
This essay reminds me of these letters by a group of young technologists, who essentially are wrestling with the notion that as creators of technology it is imperative for and beholden upon creators to consider what you call tehkne and the relation to both culture and history.
https://letterstoayoungtechnologist.com
Great piece. Always thought provoking and well written. Thank you.
Which is more powerful, fire or "money?"
Tolma, I would love your thoughts on the parabolic growth of technology relative to the speed at which bankers with monopolies can create "money" ex nihilo. Unlimited funds for every possible psychopathy, demon, vice, and noble intention. Surely this self-granted tool must be a factor, no?
Might humankind have advanced faster than it could adequately digest and adapt philosophically, intellectually, and psychologically? Could a civilization artificially supercharged in such a manner be the cause of its very demise?
https://youtu.be/gA1sNLL6yg4