HUMAN AND TECHNOLOGY:

Wont last a day without you… Technology

Objectives
- Discuss the importance of technology to humans and vice versa.
- Explain how technology changed and challenged the human world.
- Reflect that technology’s essence is for goodness and not of harm.

Humans are very creative beings, rational, skillful and has an innate goodness.
Through the discussions on the history of science and technology, humans sought to
seeks knowledge, whether it be a useful knowledge “techne” or a theoretical knowledge
“episteme”. As humans lean towards future we need to step back and reflect on the
actions that we do. Science and technology has been a catalyst of change and innovation
through millennia and across the world, but today, technology performs more than its
functions, for humans demands too much from it. And we can’t even last a day without
technology.

Hello Humanity
A letter from Technology
Tod Brilliant (2018)
“Hello Humanity! it’s me technology, we need to talk.

I’m struggling to do anything that you ask of me. When you brought me into this
world, things were great. We grew side by side over the centuries, at first, we used
stones, wood and muscle. We built great cities and explored the world, we unlocked
the secrets of the universe, I felt useful, I felt love.

But you wanted more. So, we dug up coal and oil, and used them to make steel and
concrete for your cities and roads. But to feed the exploding population and the
demand of unstopping economic growth, you needed more fertilizers, land, and
resources of every kind.

And now, you want to act like gods, you want to fly anywhere at any time. You want
around the clock entertainment. Your every craving must be fulfilled instantly. All of
these requires more energy and resources, I can’t keep up… I’m afraid that your
flights of fancy will be the end of you. It’s as if you believe that infinite growth is
possible on a finite planet. You want me to protect you from climate change, which
we caused. You want me to make millions of electric cars and solar panels, control
the weather, mine asteroids, and if all else fails, help you escape to Mars.

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 Don’t you see, the more you have to rely on me, the more you have to feed me, the
more problems we create? And to solve this, you plan is to rely on my even more?
That’s insane! You’re asking me to do the impossible. I’m overburdened by the
demands of over 8 billion people. If I fall, many of you will get hurt. I don’t want that,
so please stop demanding so much! Stop wasting so much! Start doing things for
yourself. Start growing food, growing trees, your connections with each other, and
with our planet.

You know I can’t go on like this, we have to step back, before we move forward. I’m
still with you. Are you with me?

As humans, we have relied on technology for so long, and has continually used it
for the progress and development of our cities and the world, we have been damaging
the planet we live in to satisfy our human needs. We see the world as a “standing reserve”,
and we keep on blaming technology on what is happening today; climate change,
computer addiction, global pollution, etc. But in reality, we are afraid to admit that our
actions have brought us to the state of destruction.
Humans and technology met many years ago, starting from stone tools until todays
automatic gadgets. Yes, technology changed, modern technology has changed, but
humans have also changed that we kept on relying on technology every single second.
Humans must know the “essence” of technology in order to appreciate its importance. Do
not blame computer or mobile addiction to technology, or even to your child, maybe, just
maybe, the addiction of your child was because of you!

Lesson Spotlight
21st century child 21st century parent/s
“Mom/dad, can I go out? I want to play with my
friends?”
“No. You just use the tablet, just play with it. It’s
too hot outside.”
“Mom/dad, can you tell me some bed time
stories?”
“Just watch a video, I’m sure that’s better, I’m
quite busy.”
“Mom/dad, can we talk?”
“I’m busy. Just call your friends.”

The changing generation cannot be solely blamed towards technology, the lines
“kids today are different from us before, because of technology”, or “kids today don’t know
to value family, because of technology”, are lines that parents should reflect on, maybe
it’s not about technology but because, they changed the way how they raise their children,

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and they let technology raise their child, parents today even use gadgets to tame their out
bursting children.
Technology is already part of humans way of life, way of living, for technology is
inevitable. One must be ready to take the responsibility of owning a technology or even a
modern technology. It is a two-edged sword, that can be used to goodness or the other.
Seeking advancements in science and technology is good, it is also a path of
progress and development, but as humans, let us be humans in our sought of knowledge
and truth;

Letter to Teachers
Dr. Haim Ginott
Teacher, Child Psychologist
Holocaust survivor
“Dear Teacher:

I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should

witness:
Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
Children poisoned by educated physicians.
Infants killed by trained nurses.
Women and babies shot by high school and college graduates.

So, I am suspicious of education.

My request is this:
Help your children become human.
Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths or educated
Eichmann. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make
our children more human.”

The relationship of humans and technology can reveal each other’s essence.
Humans need to be virtuous in every action they do, questioning technology is a virtuous
thing to do in science and technology.
The questions of “how’s” and “why’s” of the universe are good, these questions
make us more rationale, and continually seek for knowledge, allows us to humble by
admitting that there’s much to know. But more than these questions are questions that
will assess our humanity;
“Will my invention help other people?”
“Will my invention harm the environment?”
“Will this scientific breakthrough be relevant at this time?”

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 “Is the world ready for this technology?”
“Will this scientific discovery break the laws of nature?”
“Will this invention lead be used to goodness or evil?”

Lesson Spotlight
“Our entire much praised technological progress, and the civilization generally,
could be compared to an axe in the hands of pathological criminals.”
– Albert Einstein

Even the genius Albert Einstein regretted that his work was used for violent ends.
These are self-reflective questions that does not seek truth or knowledge alone but seeks
balance, goodness, and assesses humanity in us. For this makes us human, it is
something that we can brag to artificial intelligence. They might acquire tons of
knowledge, but they will never have rationality, emotions, and goodness; without these,
I’m afraid they might replace us in the future.
A free relationship with technology is when we know its essence, we reveal its
essence by continually asking questions on technology, and how can we use science and
technology to help the poor and the marginalized, to increase knowledge and goodness,
and to make sure that we protect our planet.

Lesson Spotlight
“There are no passengers on a ship called Earth. We are all crew.”
– Marshal McLuhan

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