Curbing Our Addiction

Technology has provided the human race with an array of beneficial change. It has contributed to our success as a species, yet at the expense of other species as well as the environment. We have become more affluent and more populous as a result of our technology. Where we lack in physical power we make up in intellectual power, and we have been able to wield this power to encroach on the lives of others. Consider the tragedy of the commons. We have attempted to progress and gain individually (and as a species) for so long that we have now depleted our resources at the cost of both ourselves and other species. As the tools and results of our intellectual power, technology has been used over the centuries to create this tragedy of the commons. And yet today, when we are faced with serious issues as a result of our indifference toward the environment, we still turn to technology as a solution. Such ideas as developing mirrors to reflect the sun’s rays and trees to absorb carbon dioxide illuminate our serious addiction to technology.

Why this addiction? As a tool technology has brought us advancement beyond our wildest dreams, and is still able to propel us further. Each year we seem to be advancing more; consider the ability of smart phones to connect us to the internet virtually anywhere we go, which is quite a leap from where cell phones were five years ago. We savor this constant transformation and the incessant upgrades because we are addicted to progress. And technology has been able to provide us this progress. However, this progress has contributed to our high consumption levels, so while our social world may be advancing, our natural world is dwindling. Despite the damage we have caused using technology, many cornucopians today argue that the solution is to advance more, namely through technology.

Assuming technology is the sole solution is to ignore the dark side of the tools we have created. Giving it such power implies that we are unable to turn to other viable options as a way to combat our issues. Rather, I think it is neutral and can be used to both aid and hinder us. Consider antibiotics, condoms, airplanes, and forms of communication. These are just a few of the ways we have been able to utilize our intelligence to advance our race. Yet when we consider technological inventions like these, we assume that technology is an entity separate from us. With this, we fall victim to imagining technology wields immense power and can thus save us. Yet placing such power and autonomy on technology is dangerous when it comes to the environment; with our new focus on attempting to reverse the environmental degradation we have caused, we have turned to technology as our saving grace. We claim it will “save” us, failing to realize that it will not save us, for only we can (and who knows if that is even possible). By assuming this, we are placing the responsibility of change on inanimate objects and abstract concepts. We got ourselves into this situation, now we need to rely on ourselves, and not the technological products of our intelligence (which, let’s face it, have not gotten the environment very far) to rise out of the ashes of the damaged environment.

Essentially, I am trying to argue that we need to take responsibility for what we have done to the environment. We have slowly but consistently destroyed it, partially through our technological advancements, and must now determine how to address what we have done. This may be through technology, but what is key here is to realize that technology cannot be a solution in itself, it can merely be a tool we may choose to utilize to aid this solution. It is important that we stop and realize that in our technologically savvy world, technology is just a product of our minds and intellectual capabilities. Furthermore, I agree with Bill McKibben that we need to reassess the dominant notion that progress is universally advantageous. By stripping ourselves of this ridiculous assumption we can begin to use technology as a way to live in harmony with the environment rather than attempting to trump it. If we fail to do this, we may find that in the long run our addiction will hinder our advancement more than anything.