Monday, July 28, 2014

In praise of - technology

This is not a very fashionable attitude among my fellow-proggressives, I gather. (And maybe am wrong.) Technological advancement has admittedly caused many huge problems too, but I cannot help but thinking that it's still one of the most visible and important signs of any progress on this earth. Yes, there are at places remarkable changes of opinion for the better, but are these not quite clearly more a concequence than a cause? In any case there are more and more tools for a rational, cautious approach to history instead of our blood-thirsty, panicky reflexes: we have increasingly many ways for avoiding ignorance and aggression (as much as the weapons too have "progressed"). One supposes it's a race of sorts: increased supports for reason and humanity vs increasingly disastrous ways of achieving short term dominance. But in view of our rather slowly changing base human nature, this is one of the very, very few areas showing at least some scope for at least some hope.