Red-Blooded Technology

Extrapolating upon the idea of the marriage of technology and the natural sciences, it has become evident to me that technology works to mirror the natural sciences in its quest for a sort of human intelligence, or perhaps humanity, that would ultimately take it from the mechanical realm to the natural one. Although this is not physically possible (at least in my mind), technology’s attempt to impersonate humanity is both terrifying and awe-inspiring; where, then, does humanity fit into this puzzle, other than the mere creator of this mechanized, breathing creature?

In his last post, Chris focuses on the concept that technology has perhaps begun to mutate, or, more appropriately, evolve, into something that, if nothing else, mimics the ‘natural sciences’ that have been presented before it. In that same vein, Hakim Bey, in his essay The Information War, meditates on the idea of media as an alienation of the physical human form, explaining that man focuses his attention on information and not experience of the physical world. However, if this new media is an extension of the body, as McLuhan investigates, as well as a cause for its alienation, as examined by Bey, then this technology has suddenly become not only an imitator of natural science but a flesh-and-blood part of it. In this case, there are much larger societal problems than man’s perceived inexperience with the physical world; for, if technology is both scientific tool and human entity, where in civilization does it belong? If our society began to treat technology as a living organism, the way that man manipulates it would be completely changed, and his sense of power would both overwhelm and undermine his kind. What then?