Oxford dictionary defines technology as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.” I think this is a limited understanding of what technology is to us. It misses the way technology behaves as a created extension of ourselves, similar to how a spider’s web is an extension of its nervous system and mind.
The concept of technology, something beyond simple “tool-use” like we see with apes using sticks and stones, is specifically human. We are unique in the extent that we’ve exploited the world around us, molding it and ourselves, enhancing our abilities. A fire cooking food expands the function of our digestive system. A blade gives us precision-sharp teeth and claws. Clothing enhances the protection of our skin and hair, while a home protects us from the elements even more completely. A horse, broken and harnessed, increases our speed and traveling range; a car increases it exponentially. A jet transcends the boundaries of localized movement entirely. A chair extends our body while the internet with its stores of data and connection to others, grown from the invention of writing, unbound by place and time, extends our mind. We find usefulness everywhere, drawing out what we need and then what we want. We transcend our biology because we are creative, we imagine. Though perhaps the way we manipulate the world around us is a part of the genetic code we grow and live from. Could technology be an extension of our biology, our function on Earth?
All life is fueled by energy. Energy on Earth comes from the sun, captured through processes like photosynthesis then fed into the semi-closed network of our planet through systems of consumption, transfer, and concentration. Through technology, humans have harnessed energy incrementally. In Economic Theory, which studies how humans allocate and distribute resources to meet the needs of our livelihoods, the efficiency of energy harnessing – from wood fire to the highly concentrated energy of fossil fuels – is directly correlated with technological innovation and the growth of industry. The rate of advancement has moved from a world relatively equal with primitive technologies and lifestyles to an exponential growth rate.
This advancement in technology also accompanied a new economic system, Capitalism. The trajectory of human technological advancement can be illustrated on an XY “hockey stick” graph where the capture and application of fossil fuels show a sharp kick upward in technology innovation after relatively flat growth over thousands of years. This turn from a steady, shallow growth line to a steep, sharp incline generally began in the 1700s. When people refer to “developed nations”, the occurrence of this upturn in technology and GDP advancement is what they’re looking at. Some countries still have not reached this point in development, often being referred to as “developing nations” or “the third world”. However, every nation on the planet has been transformed by changes in technology and our modern social systems whether they’re considered a world leader or have been disrupted and thrust into poverty and scarcity instead.
The impact of fossil fuel consumption has caused great disruption to our planetary systems. In the face of climate catastrophe, we find ourselves on the necessary precipice of an inevitable energy revolution… but we don’t know exactly where we’re headed. The creative industry axiom, “Innovate or die”, has more weight when real death tilts the scales – this is beyond capitalistic survival. The evolution of technology is embedded into our collective human history. It’s a storyline woven through the narrative of Earth. Our coevolution is exciting. Be encouraged by the imaginative and innovative trait of the human. Science Fiction is a medium giving insight into possible futures. I read it, seeking clues into which future we’ll write. How will we construct ourselves and design our lives? I speculate. I dream. Our possibilities are infinite.
Technology embodies creative imagination, potential, logic, stories, function, fun, and problems solved. It is abstract, ethereal, or physically sound. It is the language of quantum mathematics, the world wide web, urban centers and microwave ovens. While technologies are embedded into the form of our world, they originate from the human mind and reflect the way we sort, organize, and move through the contexts of our experience. This has fascinating implications in development. Like walking through a wilderness, technology is how we navigate and make meaning. Rather than walking off a cliff, we must make bridges and locate passes through mountain peaks. We must understand the mutual impact we have on one another: Technology and the human, simultaneously parts of the same entity and two symbiotic lifeforms. How does technology interconnect people, what is the quality of the relationships and paths it creates, and how does it intersect with power and ways of being? Technology is an evolution of the human and evolving with us. It is a powerful entity, understood as a tool, driven by powers most people do not see or understand. Like the wilderness, technology is not benevolent or benign. It is imperative that we be mindful and aware in how we proceed, making choices in how we respond, develop, move. We are the spider in the center of the web, either feeding ourselves or trapping ourselves with our own net.
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