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January 25,
2006 Meeting
I. Book/Media Discussion – 6:00 – 6:10
o Rowlands, Mark, The Philosopher at the End of the Universe, 2004,
Thomas Dunne Books
The subtitle “Philosophy Explained though Science Fiction” movies says it all. If you like sci fi, this is a great book to learn about the ideas expressed in films such as Total Recall, Blade Runner and the Terminator. The style is very informal which makes it more fun too read but sometimes gets a bit crass, i.e. foul language, so be warned. The moral implications of technology are often explored as well as the idea that technology helps us examine age old questions in a new light.
o The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age, Simon
Head, April 2005
Quote from the publisher as found on the Barnes and
Noble website.
“In the great boom of the 1990s, top management's compensation
soared, but the wages of most Americans barely grew. Here, Simon Head
points to information technology as the prime cause of this growing
wage disparity. Many economists, technologists, and business consultants
have predicted that IT would liberate the work force, bringing self-managed
work teams and decentralized decision making. Head argues that the
opposite has happened…. “
o We depend heavily on technology like when we are stranded because the car is in the shop.
o As society becomes dependent on technology, it makes it hard for individuals to resist adopting the technology, i.e. others put pressure on us.
o We benefit from technology. It moves us forward. For example, where would be without the wheel?
o However, it has changed us. Technology can become a crutch. It also changes out behavior. For example, no one writes letters anymore, they just send an email. Care taken in writing an email is much less than in composing a letter.
o Technology invades our privacy, witness the recent issue of the government wire tapping without a warrant. Caller id is a convenient loss of privacy. When calling a 1-800 number, your caller id is passed to the destination automatically. Is 1984 coming true?
o 911 is a good use of such technology.
o When wars occur now, the field commander can view the entire battle from one place thanks to technology.
o Technology does not meet our true needs, our unfulfilled needs such as God.
o Technology provides new modes and means of expression.
Nietzsche – Pleasure
or Pain – “That which does not kill you, makes you stronger.”
o A man is strengthened by hardships and ennobled by rising above them. He must use his power of will to overcome adversity and accomplish his goal.
o Key ideas:
– To build muscle and get stronger, we must lift weights (resistance training) and exercise.
– It is not pleasant and the extent to which push beyond comfort, is the extent to which we get stronger.
– Emotionally we develop by resistance. We encounter obstacles and by living through them, we become emotionally stronger. A naïve person who grew up with no emotional trauma is likely to be unable to cope with one.
o Key questions here:
– Does technology put more or less of a strain on us physically, mentally, and emotionally?
– How does it do this? What are the effects?
Martin Heidegger,The Question Concerning Technology
http://www.iwm.at/publ-jvc/jc-16-01.pdf
o Being at home in the world.
o “The
essence of something, Heidegger insists, is not the same thing as
the thing itself. In thinking of the essence of a tree “that which
pervades every tree, as tree, is not itself a tree that can be encountered
among all the other trees. Likewise, the essence of technology is
by no means anything technological.”
o What is technology? Instrumental – means to an end, human tool.
o We get the result/effect but what about the process – the process or use of technology shapes our view of the world.
o Technology is “revealing” – difference between old and modern technology lies in the manner it reveals the world to us. Modern technology does not look at what nature already offers us but rather look to see nature as a resource to be stripped and reshaped to fit our needs. This happens with no goal in mind so we end up stockpiling reserves. We start to see everything is terms of reserves waiting to be tapped, eventually this includes people. Personnel versus Human Resources.
To
recapitulate, the difference pertains to the way in which modern technologyreveals, the manner in which it allows us, and seemingly compels us,
to view the world we live in and the Earth we live on.51 “a tract
of land is challenged into the putting out of coal and ore. The earth
now reveals itself as a coal mining district, the soil as a mineral
deposit.”
Man views nature as something to be controlled, at our disposal,
separate from ourselves.
o “Enframing
is the summons which enjoins us and cannot be ignored, that constrains
us to “reveal the real, in the mode of ordering, as standing-reserve.”
o “final delusion: It seems as though man everywhere and always encounters
only himself…
In truth, however, precisely nowhere does man today any
longer encounter himself, i.e., his essence.”
o Meaning: We think we control technology and therefore also control
the way we view the world. This leads us to think we are lords and
masters of the world and therefore only encounter ourselves in the
world since everything else is subordinated to us. The problem
is that we fail to identify the situation we are in and so we cannot
see ourselves accurately.
o It’s what
you make of it.
o Technology can
make a person more dangerous such as when a drunk person drives a
car.
o There was a movie in which
a family went back in time to 1900 to live a simple life with less
technology. However, they soon discovered what they really needed
most from the modern era was simple things like shampoo.