Proof of Learning, Week One

The most salient ideas that seemed to stem from the readings this week were the pervasiveness of technology, the impacts technology has on our social climate, and how the Internet influences our identities and how we present ourselves. The power and ubiquity of technology today is astounding, and to think that a man-made item, the computer chip, possesses the greatest energy-to-density ratio in the known Universe is impressive. In another light, the dependence our very species exhibits in regards to technology is also quite striking. Beyond the raw prowess of technology, we can examine how it shapes not only our social landscape, but the way we, as individuals, use tools like the Internet to mold our own observed identities. 

Technology can be defined as “anything useful invented by a human mind.” (Kelly) Technology isn't, then, simply electronics and advanced tools, but everything ranging from law and hammers to reading and writing. Even language is a kind of technology. In our first discussion topic, Sarah mentions the ability of technology to “vastly expand what humans are able to do,” and this proposition trends deeper than it would initially seem. Kelly mentions that grandparents are the “transmitters of cultural evolution and information,” and the same principle may be extended to technology. Until humans were able to survive long enough for grandparents to flourish – probably brought about by technological innovations – information was not easily disseminated between generations. With such a short life span, one could only learn so much in a lifetime, and what little was learned was difficult to effectively pass on to the new generation: they had the technology, but not necessarily the information and exposition required to continue its development. Grandparents provided both an easy medium to expand the pool of knowledge and transmute it between generations. 

What, then, is humanities greatest technological achievement? I believe it to be reading and writing, for much the same reasons as grandparents. Reading and writing provide an easy path to disseminate information across generations, and an easy way to accumulate that information and knowledge. The process of writing and documenting technology and information provides not only a (sometimes literal) blueprint for constructing the old but it saves time for building upon existing convention. Reading and writing effectively provides a short-cut for each successive generation to understand and utilize existing technology, so that they don't have to relearn, by experience, all manner of existing technology; Technology, then, is a kind of infrastructure that evolves and expedites both the process of learning existing technology and the knowledge required to expand upon it. It doesn't simply provide the raw tool, it provides to information and history required to wield it effectively.

The power of technology, while highly valuable, is not without its costs. The harnessing of fire is a manner of technology, and its utilization by humans has lead to dramatic changes in the ecology of grasses and entire continents. (Kelly) Other technology utilized by humans has allowed us to influence the planet on a global scale, such as driving to extinction up to “250 magafuana animals in North America” when our genus migrated there. 

Kelly asserts that “technology loves biology,” but I find this hard to believe. Technology is ultimately a tool to be used by humans, and I do not believe it to inherently opposes or supports biology. However, I think that looking at the history of humanity's utilization of technology weaves a completely different tale, even to the present day. Technology is ubiquitous in humanity, and the niche we have carved for ourselves with that technology has been at extreme cost to Earth's ecological system, both past and present. Ignoring more complex issues like climate change, humanity is clearly implicated in the astounding acceleration of mass extinction events and our current trend of living beyond Earth's ecological capacity (RSBS), both direct – hunting – and indirect – toxic emissions, altering ecosystems. Overconsumption and overpopulation are two significant factors, but our ever-expanding society is certainly the result of our expanding retinue of technology. 

Technology is of great importance to our species, and without it we would not be in the dominant position that we are now. However, it is certainly not without its costs to the world around us. We as a species do not exist in a vacuum, and we must learn to live in balance with the rest of the planet: the future of humanity depends on biodiversity and the global environment as much as they depend on us. It was a difficult, messy road to attain our current standing in the world, and I think that it is time to turn our technological usage around to give back to the world we took so much from.

References

Kelly, Kevin. "Kevin Kelly Tells Technology's Epic Story | Video on TED.com." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. TED, Feb. 2010. Web. 15 May 2011. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/kevin_kelly_tells_technology_s_epic_story.html>.

RSBS. "RSBS » 5 Are We Living Beyond Earth's Capacity"" RSBS　SOS2006. RSBS, Jan. 2006. Web. 20 May 2011. <http://www.sos2006.jp/english/rsbs_summary_e/5-are-we-living-beyond-earths- capacity.html>.