So today I had a discussion with an elderly gentleman. He was ranting on about how technology is evil and that things have become to complicated in this world. It's a debate that we are all familiar with. Has the world around us been degraded or augmented by technological development?
As a computer hardware engineering major and general science/technology enthusiast, my opinion on the matter could be quite biased (but then again, who wouldn't be?) I take advantage of technology on an hourly basis and continually indulge in new silicone based toys. On the other hand, I find it deeply important that mankind as a whole should keep in touch with our natural side and remind ourselves that we are still animals on a ball of collective space-rocks that just so happened to form an atmosphere and water.
The only superiority we get from being a complicated species is the fact that we can think we are important at all, even though in all reality we are extremely insignificant. Technology is a blinding factor in our perception of the value of the human race, along with social paradigms and self worth.
I began to reflect on how technology has affected us all while the old man continued, befuddled by my Android tablet and terms such as 'Smartphone' and 'GPS navigation'. This particular individual (along with many others) despised this technology because he didn't understand how it worked. Also, it had no immediate benefit to him, meaning that he couldn't take advantage of it without making the effort to learn how to use it. The wheel, for example, was once considered 'new technology'. This man wouldn't strike down the wheel because it was easy to understand. A car, on the other hand, is more complicated, but requires little cost to take advantage of (an unseen variable being that everyone thinks they can drive). Believe it or not a car is more complicated than a computer. It's this lack of understanding of these 'new' technologies that caused this man to despise them. If I had to sum up his views I'd label them hypocritical ignorance. The refusal to adapt and learn about new technology is lazy and pathetic. Gaining knowledge on using tools that advance our well being is evolutionary. You don't bring a knife to a gunfight because the gunman has better technology. The weak die and the strong/smart survive.
The fact that technology conveniences us so much might also attribute to our degradation. We've lost touch with our primal instincts such as hunting and gathering, relying on the productive knowledge of scientists to make our lives easier. This is a major disappointment from my personal standpoint. For example, imagine a post apocalyptic earth with scarce resources and no means of telecommunication (Although knowing Google, their servers would most likely be online). Do you think Betty the 250lb mom in her rascal would be able to survive when having to hunt for her food? How about Steve? You know, from accounting? Do you think he could build a computer from sand? Or even build a stable house without a hammer? We'd be the only species on the planet that would be devastated without our tools for making life easier. This makes me want to cry, because without the years of technological advancement we are really, really pathetic compared to the rest of the world.
Technology does, however, provide us with one sustainable advantage over every known conscious being in the universe; Knowledge. Our exceptional ability to learn is the sole advantage we have over every known organism, which brings me back to the point that if you are are unwilling to learn how to use new technology, you might as well be a f***ing plant. The basis of our evolution has been to discover. This advantage may have hindered us on a primal level, but it has exceedingly progressed mankind to tip the evolutionary scale.
So knowledge is one particular side-effect of science and technology that I find to be the most valuable. We humans are solely responsible for unraveling the secrets of the universe (which, amazing as it is, is still insignificant because we are the only ones who care). From the quantum dynamics of sub-atomic particles to massive galaxies that sit at the edge of existence, mankind has been responsible for learning the properties of... well.. everything. To understand the universe is to understand the only only significant thing in existence; considering that the trillions and trillions of massive stars and planets and other 'things' in the universe have a care value of absolute 0 about anything and everything that goes on in our lives.
The only thing that anybody or anything can consider significant in this universe is understanding the universe itself. This knowledge is the base for all understanding. Even the concept of knowledge and understanding can be questioned as insignificant, but considering that this is all I have to claim as my own, I've decided to leave it at that. Cogito ergo sum is where I have to stop as a human being...
I thank technology for its ability to help us learn about what makes up our existence, carry disdain towards it for weakening our species on a primal level and, in every meaning of the word,
hate people who refuse to adapt or learn because it's an inconvenience to their insignificant comfort.
I believe the next time I see that wrinkled man I will sit him down and explain to him that our star is in one of billions of galaxies, and that we revolve around one of trillions of stars, and that among these trillion of stars there are trillions of planets, and that the sum of these objects is so ineffably extensive that not even the greatest of minds or population of species can even begin to comprehend it. In all of this massive incomprehensible existence, there isn't a single particle, mass or collection of thought that gives a damn about whether or not you can work your phone.
