4 Arguments Against
Technology
by Kevin Kelly | April 17, 2009
I believe we have a moral obligation to
increase the power and presence of
technology in the world, but not everyone
believes that — to put it mildly. Many believe
the opposite: that we have a moral obligation
to reduce the power and presence of
technology. I want to fully understand those
arguments so I am collecting them in order to
confront them as well as I can. I am
interested in valid reasons to diminish
technology, but also in mythical reasons as
well. Things people believe about the
technium which may not be true, but
motivate them. Here is my first cut. Please
comment on alternative reasons I missed.
I think there are four basic arguments
against technology, with many sub-reasons.
In summary: Technology should be reduced
as much as possible because it is contrary to
nature, and/or to humanity, and/or to
technology itself and finally, because it is a
type of evil and thus is contrary to God.
Contrary to Nature. Technology is in
opposition to nature. It is produced at the
expense of nature because it destroys
ecological habitats. Its steel is mined from
the earth; its lumber is taken by cutting down
forests; its rare metals dug from the ground;
its plastics sucked from oil and then burned
into the air. Its factories pave over wetlands
or meadows. Worse this destruction of
natural habitat can extinguish species, an act
which cannot be undone (at least not yet).
Even if technology halted the destruction of
natural habitat, the fact that we consume
large amounts of energy causes a disruption
in the atmosphere, which alters the climate.
The scale of technology is simply so large
that almost no matter how environmentally
benign it may seem, its sheer size
overwhelms natural cycles.
Contrary to Humans. Technology
erodes human character. It separates us
from nature, which diminishes our natural
self. Out of touch with nature, we behave
selfishly, stupidly. We become consumers
instead of receivers. We become artificial. At
the extreme we behave like machines.
Technology makes us greedy, unhappy,
impatient, insensitive and full of hubris.
Contrary to Technology
Itself. Technology proceeds so fast it is
going to self-destruct. It is no longer
regulated by nature, or humans, and cannot
control itself. Self-replicating technologies
such as robotics, nanotech, genetic
engineering are self-accelerating at such a
rate that they can veer off in unexpected,
unmanageable directions at any moment.
The Fermi Paradox suggests that none, or
very few civilizations, escape the selfdestroying capacity of technology.
Contrary to God. Technology has all the
hallmarks of an evil force. The worst injuries
to ourselves and our species come at the
hand of technology: atomic bombs, guns
everywhere, toxins in water, mind drugs,
dams that fail, marketplace bombs,
persistent radiation, automobile crashes, not
to mention the technologies of war — tanks,
predator drones, land mines, etc — which
have been designed with only ONE purpose:
to kill as many humans as possible.
Technologies amplify violence, and this
violence is systemic, part of the agenda, built
into the nature of these systems. Like an evil
force.
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Website: HBR Blog Network
Publisher: Harvard Business School Publishing
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Date viewed online: May 18, 2013