A Taste, A Thought
Title: Beyond the Boundaries
Date: November 13th, 2005.
Time: Unknown
Note: This is just an excerpt of my humanities paper.
Technology, as a whole, exists because humans have always felt the need to better their creation, decrease it’s limitations and see how far their creation can advance. A familiar statement by Marshall McLuhan is that technology is an extension of the human body. In the case of the Internet, this new technology is the extension of the brain (access to information). Technology is an application of knowledge to the meeting of human desires and needs (Hellman 24). The desires of humans are to advance our technologies and exceed nature’s limitations. With this desire, we will do anything to achieve these goals, but do we know the negative and positive effects of these achievements. We cannot deny that the Internet in its immediate perspective or purpose has positive effects. We are able to communicate with more people, at any time, quicker then ever before. Technology creates new possibilities for human choice and action but leaves their disposition uncertain. What its effects will be and what ends it will serve are not inherent in the technology, but depend on what man will do with technology. Technology thus makes possible a future of open-ended options that seems to accord well with the presuppositions of the prophetic tradition (Mesthene117). The problem is that we know the immediate effects that are positive, but we overlook the immediate negative effects, which may build up into a catastrophic problem. As Neil postman describes in his article called Five Changes we need to know about technological change, is that “technological change is a trade-off, meaning that for every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage,”(Postman). Prometheus may not have directly punished himself but in actuality placed punishment on him self because he saw it as betterment for his creation. He knew that he would have to suffer the consequences of his action, but he never knew what the consequences would be. Prometheus’ decision is in close correlation with how technology has affects and may affect humans. With our technologies, we want it to work to its best abilities so we advance the technologies we create. We understand that the technologies we create will affect us, but we don’t know how.
Date: November 13th, 2005.
Time: Unknown
Note: This is just an excerpt of my humanities paper.
Technology, as a whole, exists because humans have always felt the need to better their creation, decrease it’s limitations and see how far their creation can advance. A familiar statement by Marshall McLuhan is that technology is an extension of the human body. In the case of the Internet, this new technology is the extension of the brain (access to information). Technology is an application of knowledge to the meeting of human desires and needs (Hellman 24). The desires of humans are to advance our technologies and exceed nature’s limitations. With this desire, we will do anything to achieve these goals, but do we know the negative and positive effects of these achievements. We cannot deny that the Internet in its immediate perspective or purpose has positive effects. We are able to communicate with more people, at any time, quicker then ever before. Technology creates new possibilities for human choice and action but leaves their disposition uncertain. What its effects will be and what ends it will serve are not inherent in the technology, but depend on what man will do with technology. Technology thus makes possible a future of open-ended options that seems to accord well with the presuppositions of the prophetic tradition (Mesthene117). The problem is that we know the immediate effects that are positive, but we overlook the immediate negative effects, which may build up into a catastrophic problem. As Neil postman describes in his article called Five Changes we need to know about technological change, is that “technological change is a trade-off, meaning that for every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage,”(Postman). Prometheus may not have directly punished himself but in actuality placed punishment on him self because he saw it as betterment for his creation. He knew that he would have to suffer the consequences of his action, but he never knew what the consequences would be. Prometheus’ decision is in close correlation with how technology has affects and may affect humans. With our technologies, we want it to work to its best abilities so we advance the technologies we create. We understand that the technologies we create will affect us, but we don’t know how.
posted by MisTune at 10:01 AM
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