The documentary “Transcendent Man” directed by Barry Ptolemy presents the technological perspective of Ray Kurzweil and his position regarding the future of mankind and its relationship with technological development. Notions such as technological determinism, technological optimism, and technological pessimism are explored within the film (Transcendent Man). These ideas are compared and contrasted by the various individuals within the film who take certain positions regarding the advancement of technology and the implications that this has on social and cultural development. In looking at how this relates to my own life, it is evident that the advancement of technology has provided a variety of benefits, although these may have come at a cost. In assessing the impact that technology has had on my personal understanding of society and culture as well as the implications that these ideas will likely have on the future development of humanity it is evident that there are a variety of implications that should be explored regarding these ideas.
Technological Determinism views the underlying processes of technological development as being the primary factor in the values held by a society. This socioeconomic development is embedded within the frameworks of social and cultural discourse regarding the importance and function of technology. Technology itself, the popular landscape, and the overall ideologies of culture and society are influenced by the development of these criteria. This is the view that “technological development has a life of its own, an internal logic that cannot be controlled by individual humans or even the whole society” (Harris, Pritchard, and Rabins 93). Instead, technology itself is the transformative factor by which human development is said to occur within the context of social and cultural history.
Technological Optimism generally views technology as the most effective means by which many social issues can be repaired. The advance of this form of value system demonstrates the need for an understanding of the purpose of technological development and how it can be applied to the problems that are faced by society. Increasing productivity while reducing the impact of this productivity is a balance that can be maintained by this position. In essence, this is the view that “the effects of technology on human well-being are almost altogether good” (Harris, Pritchard, and Rabins 93). These effects represent the nature of technological tendencies and the effects that it can have on the positive development of human life within the context of their historic development.
Technological Pessimism, then, is the opposite of technological optimism. This is the view that technology does not have the capacity to cure society of its ills. Instead, it is the advance of industrial society that has led to many of the world's problems. Any issues that are solved through the advancement of technology are ultimately replaced by new ones that only serve to dehumanize the individual further. Technological pessimists present fears that technology can result in problems such as “an excessive pride in human power, a failure to acknowledge dependence on providence, a tendency to forsake the pursuit of personal excellence in favor of enjoying the luxuries that technology brings, and a tendency to confuse the ‘‘unreal’’ world of material things with ultimate reality” (Harris, Pritchard, and Rabins 94). These fears are grounded in the underlying changes that technological development will ultimately produce within the social and cultural circumstances of human history.
These three ideas are examined within the documentary. Technological determinism is presented as being an underlying value that is held by both Kurzweil and his critics. This idea relates to both optimism and pessimism, as it presupposes the fact that technology has some profound impact on technological development, whether good or bad. For this reason, many of the perspectives in the film present an underlying agreement that technology does in deed have a profound effect on the progression of social and cultural change. In this sense, the film is an exploration of the impact that the idea of technological determinism has on society and its views in the modern world regarding the future.
Kurzweil represents the idea of technological optimism within the film. His views regarding humanity and its future are fundamentally intertwined with technological change. The end of technology will result in the eradication of what it ultimately means to be human. For him, this will result in no aging or sickness, hunger or starvation, and, in the end, he believes that humanity will be able to overcome death. In this way, his view is that technology will be the primary factor in human development moving forward, which will result in the eradication of the major problems that humanity faces today.
Kurzweil's critics present an examination of technological pessimism. While these individuals believe that technology will indeed play a role in humanity's future, it is evident that their view of this role is that it will continue to lead to more problems then actually being able to solve any. William B. Hurlbut, for instance, challenges Kurzweil's unbridled optimism with a level of restrained doubt. He argues that it is necessary to curb this optimism in order for true innovation to take place in the real world. Ben Goertzel and Hugo de Garis also present stark warnings about the possibility for distopian outcomes to technological advancement and the dangers of technologies such as artificial intelligence.
One specific piece of technology that has fundamentally changed my life is the internet. This has brought a variety of advancements to the way that I am able to work and interact with others. Being able to purchase goods online has allowed for the prices of many more advanced items to drop. Being able to keep in touch with friends over long distances has also been a profound advancement in my life. While many of these changes have been positive it is evident that there are problems that have arose in relation to them as well. For instance, being able to obtain items easily online has caused many local shops to lose business and have to close. Furthermore, being able to easily communicate with people makes questions regarding the legitimacy of friendship to be considered. The ease of use that this development has presented demonstrates profound implications for the way that people live their lives. This demonstrates the importance of technology and its impact on the social and cultural development of society in general.
While I agree with Kurzweil that technology will provide a variety of benefits, I do not necessarily agree as far as the adoption of many of the ideas that are discussed. While things such as virtual reality, biological medicine, and artificial intelligence are advancing at a rapid pace, as Dr. Hurlbut demonstrates, it is important to temper optimism so that development is able to remain grounded in the real world. While it is interesting to imagine how the use of technology might augment people in the future, it is evident that access to the internet and the information that this provides has, to a certain extent, already transformed the lives of many in the present day. However, this is not to say that people themselves will not be able to change in tandem with technological development. Instead, it is necessary not to presuppose the decisions that people will make as a society in the future.
I think of myself as a technological optimist. While I believe that it is necessary to carefully consider the outcomes of technological advancement, I also believe that people will ultimately make the right decisions and that technology will succeed in making the world a better place. While I do not presuppose the changes that are presented by Kurzweil, I do think that technology will continue to be integrated into people's lives to the extent that technology and biology will be significantly blended together. However, I do not think that this will be either a dystopian or utopian world, as these worlds are fictional and tautological in nature. Instead, I believe that, rather than there being a perfect world, it will simply be a better world. Things such as hunger, pain, death, and sickness will likely never be eradicated completely. However, it is interesting to think of how technology will be able to reduce many of these problems in the future.
I think that the overabundance of technology and its dependence can cause life to lose meaning. Physical interaction with the world can be augmented by technology but the meaning behind that interaction also changes as well. As the line between technology and biology continues to be blurred, this may change. However, it seems that reliance on anything that is not part of the natural biological world can lead to problems with social conditioning in the future. This is in respect to the judgments that people make regarding the importance of life in general. When these types of judgments become subject to lack of understanding regarding life and its various experiences the meaning of those experiences can ultimately be sacrificed. Technology is therefore a double-edged sword which, while producing a variety of positive benefits, can also produce negative ones as well, mainly at the social and psychological level, where these effects then become marginalized by the greater social change that these technologies have brought.
Works Cited
Harris, Charles E., Pritchard, Michael S., and Rabins, Michael J. Engineering Ethics. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2005. Print.
Transcendent Man. Dir Barry Ptolemy. Perf Ray Kurzweil. Docurama. 2009. Documentary.
