some short musing on tech and deity

Since before the dawn of history, mankind has been using technology. Things like fire, the wheel and flint tipped spears have all served to preserve humanity and ease humanity’s burdens. As a species, Homo Sapiens has created technology far beyond that used by any other species. The species has evolved to be inextricably linked to its technology. For good or bad, Homo Sapiens has also become dependent on the technology it has created.

Christianity is the dominant religion of the West. It offers spiritual guidance for people - in part by offering a template for understanding how to deal with moral/ethical dilemmas in life. The central teaching of this faith is contained in The Bible, which is taken by the devout to represent the literal words of God. There do exist many writings by Christian scholars, however it is important to remember that these are interpretations and extrapolations. The scholarly writings are subordinate to The Bible.

The rise of Christianity began over two thousand years ago in an age of relatively primitve technology. The implications of a given piece of technology from this era were fairly easy to assess and understand. The touchstone, for example, allowed people to verify the nature of a basic currency of the time by identifying a metal as gold. In so doing, the touchstone can be said to have facilitated commerce by keeping traders from producing counterfeit currency.

The moral/ethical concerns of the time were less complex as well. Again in the case of the touchstone, the lesson was that trade is an important aspect of interpersonal conduct. It keeps us socialized and tells us that there will be enough for everyone, we did not need to destroy each other. It would not be acceptable then, to defraud people when trading. Ethically, the touchstone symbolized honesty.

one hundred and fity years ago, it was inconceivable that a person would stand on the moon. Thirty six years ago it happened. We have super-developed our technology. We have been capable of doing this because technology has always been of a human realm.

In the Christian tradition, the development of ethical and moral constructs are based in the divine realm. In order to keep up with our fantastic advances in technology, Christian ethical stances must be interpreted and extrapolated from the base source, The Bible. The problem is that it would be impossible for The Bible to guess what issues might be cropping up at this late stage.

Mankind is inherently moralistic / ethical. It is necessary to use this trait to consider our technology. To rely on ever more nebulous guides is certainly a hindrance, if not an out and out danger to humanity. Humanity has reached a point in its developmental potential where it is essential to relieve God of the burden of the consequence of our actions. It is time for Homo Sapiens to take up the responsability. Mankind needs its own moral / ethical code to ensure the intelligent, effective preservation of the species.

This would be a gigantic project which would demand much human resource. The effects of such an undertaking would be far-reaching and transformational for society. Consider some of the excellent implications that such an undertaking would beget:

Essentially, society would experience an ethical / moral renaissance. Basic moral / ethical constructs from Christianity are commonly understood, however they have become so repetitive that large sections of society do not feel they need to contemplate them. It would be fair to say that society is mentally complacent. The building of a new morality is a powerfully thought-provoking endeavour. Since it’s influence would have such a broad scope, nearly everyone would have to take part in the dialogue. In a culture where so many people turn to escapism (television, internet, sport, etc...) to avoid thinking, this would be a major benefit.

There are no laws that move individuals to practice any form of spirituality. It is not the type of thing that should be legislated. However, as a society drifts away from it’s spiritual centre, the quality of life, its vibrancy and meaning, fade. Many that don’t have any sense of spirituality at the moment will have a chance to learn and grow as the process of creating a new ethical code continues. Boosting quality of life is something that nations strive for already; this would provide a unique opportunity.

Moreover, the realm of human consciousness will be expanded by pursuing a new concept of right and wrong. This is a goal that governments, corporations, schools and hippies everywhere chase on a day to to day basis. It is in our nature and best interests to expand our consciousness as a species. The technological upshot of this would be a chance to focus on the uses and purposes of the things we make.

There is a tendency in the West to ‘pass the buck.’ When the option arises to dodge, instead of taking responsibility for something gone wrong, it is a common fault to point a finger. The deeply ingrained need for self-defense when one does make a mistake is well facilitated when one has an omnipotent being on their side.

The consistent reinforcement of the notion that God has a predetermined plan or design for everyone (which stands in contrast to the notion of free will), often leads many to the conclusion that they don’t have to answer for their actions. Clearly, if one does not have to answer for their actions, they are prone to putting much less consideration into them.

By admitting our own culpability - by taking ethics into our own hands we acknowledge that we must be responsible for our actions. Each action we take will be more cautiously weighed before it is executed. In relation to technology, this would manifest by the immeditiate discontinuation of use of many technologies in favour of more intelligent choices (for example, perhaps only hybrid automobiles would be produced from here on). Other technologies would be used less often (paper consumption may be seriously reduced).


Taking into account a new way of thinking about what we currently use and how we use it, along with what we should make and how it should be made, leads to the idea that we must know where we want to go with all this in the future.

In the late 1970s Japanese and American corporate cultures became closer with each other. The Japanese wanted access to American markets. The Americans were eager to see what kind of influences could make Japan such an economic powerhouse, considering that three decades earlier Japan was a third world nation. In comparing business plans, the Japanese were shocked to find that American businesses planned a mere fifteen or twenty years into the future. The Americans were equally shocked to discover that Japanese business tends to plan ahead a few generations. The West was unprepared to have to play catch-up, but it did acknowledge the utility of its oriental counterpart’s philosophy.

The ability for society to chart its future will be well founded by this shift in paradigm. With any luck, one of the first applications of this advantage - technologically - will be to refine and groom media and information into an efficient and elegant system, instead of simply letting it all accumulate like so much trash on our sidewalks.

The best part is that all this - the change in thought, the comprehension of our situation and the determination of times to come - will be centred on a conscientious and humanistic outlook that prioritizes people over the technology that we have become dependent on