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Growth Online > Knowledge Base > Society's Growth > Insights into the Nature of Technology
Insights into the Nature of Technology
by Roy Posner and MSS
Also See Insights into the Meaning of the Internet & Computers
The Originals and Nature of Technology
Definition of Technology
A Definition of Technology
Technology is knowledge of matter organized and applied through a practical organization. (MSS)Technology
Technology is the expression of a mental formula of work in matter in the form of a fashioned tool. (MSS)
Origins of TechnologyDevelopment of Scientific Inquiry and Scientific Technology
The human mind reached its acme in Socrates more than 2000 years ago. For that to develop as scientific inquiry in Europe it took 1500 or 2000 years.
In the next stage, the scientific inquiry matured into practically usable scientific technology in the USA. This was done in two or three hundred years. Technology is [unfortunately] more meaningful for us than the abstract inquiry into the origin of things, which is Science. (MSS)
Science's Technology Expands, Makes Conscious Energy, Enabling It Do a Great Work
For several centuries, Science has been discovering the laws of Nature. Its concentration has been mainly on technology. Technology makes a small energy do a great work, which means the scientist makes the energy expand. In other words, the scientist makes energy CONSCIOUS because that which is not conscious cannot expand by itself. (MSS)Commerce, Science, & Technology
Commerce has brought science to the masses through technology. (MSS)Untitled
The birth of a technology in the mind of an engineer is indicative of social maturity of scientific knowledge employed in work. (MSS)How Products and Technology Arise
Once there is an approval of a new idea, and some organization emerges to support it, trade and commerce take it up as they see a new opportunity. This is how new products or technology arise. (Paraphrase of MSS)
Scientific discovery that Creates a Corresponding Product
Every new scientific discovery begins as theory and ends as a PRODUCT.From the Stone Age, Man has been creating such products.
Maybe the very first product is the stone which he used as a tool. Computer and Internet may be the latest such tools. The tool becomes a product. (MSS)
Causes of Advances in Technology
Advances in technology are made possible by:
greater systematization.
finding material that is more receptive to speed and ideas.
abridging Time by increasing speed.
higher methods of translating instructions. (MSS)
Benefits of Technology
Technology Brings Benefit to the Common Man
Science has Provided for the Common Man
We know the twentieth century as the century where science has enriched life. Science, especially technology has made the results of great scientific achievements available for the common man. The unattainable is made attainable.Commerce has brought science to the masses through technology. (MSS)
Technology Enables Power of the Elite to Common Man
Advancing technology enables the common man to possess and enjoy what only the elite and royalty possessed so far. In that sense, technology brings the exclusive power of the elite to be distributed among all. (MSS)
Technology Brings FreedomTechnology & Individual Freedom
Every technology advances the scope of individual freedom. (MSS)
Technology Enables Accomplishment, a Greater Society
Untitled
Science's technology expands, makes conscious energy, enabling it do a great work.
Untitled
Science has been the driving force for unlocking the secrets of nature and technology that have made possible the development of modern societies. Today it is the main hope for creating a better future for all humanity.
Technology Makes Energy Conscious
Science's Technology Expands, Makes Conscious Energy, Enabling It Do a Great Work
For several centuries, Science has been discovering the laws of Nature. Its concentration has been mainly on technology. Technology makes a small energy do a great work, which means the scientist makes the energy expand. In other words, the scientist makes energy CONSCIOUS because that which is not conscious cannot expand by itself. (MSS)
The Spiritual Force Moving through Technology
The Force Driving Technology
The Supramental Force of 1956 is organising itself and taking possession of Technology as well as social, subtle organisation, having moved from the governments it possessed in 1967. (MSS)
Force Moving through US and India
The Force is moving through technology in the US. Rather than moving directly from spirit-oriented India, the Force has taken an unexpected path, moving through the emerging subtle technology of Internet in the US, which extends in collaborative service work with India, where the Force returns to meet its true earthly Source. Then together these two nations can enable the infinite to emerge in the finite, not just in the material plane, but in all planes.
Limits of Technology
Scientific Technology vs. (Pure) Science
Science as Technology, Not Original Impulse of Mind
It is noteworthy that fundamental discoveries of science are largely confined to Europe and what the USA has taken up is the application of practical knowledge to it, reducing it to Technology. It is by the dazzling success of human comforts that science now thrives or even survives, not by following the original impulse of an awakening Mind. (MSS)
Scientific Technology of Physical Mind vs. Science of Thinking Mind
Scientific technology is the achievement of MIND, the mind seated in the physical consciousness of Man. Hence in Sri Aurobindo’s terminology it is called the physical mind. Science as Europe has embraced is of the thinking mind, seated in the mental consciousness. (MSS)
Technology vs. Origins Explained through Science
Technology is [unfortunately] more meaningful for us than the abstract inquiry into the origin of things, which is Science. (MSS)
Negatives Products Produced
The Positive and Negative a Product Produces is Reflection of Man's Character
Every new scientific discovery begins as theory and ends as a PRODUCT.The product is neutral.
It is Man who gives a character to the product he uses. A product that offers a great service usually has another side, an undesirable side.
It was inevitable in a world of dualities. The fission of the atom is certainly a great discovery. It gave birth to a monstrously destructive weapon, the atom bomb. Atomic energy can be put to peaceful positive uses of electric power generation. But it has a capacity to generate radioactive fallout. There is no greater boon than electricity. Its generation results in emissions that are harmful. Anything good has a bad side effect.
Science ushered mankind into the age of comfort, convenience, and speed.
It made the impossible possible, the inconceivable real. It is heartening to see science discovering products to fight disease and vaccines to prevent disease.
The dread disease of malaria could be largely stifled by sprinkling kerosene on stagnant water, which prevents the breeding of mosquitoes. Science is knowledge.
Unfortunately, knowledge is double-edged. The machine gun that deals a mortal blow to the criminal is sometimes wielded by the criminal himself. (MSS, extracted)
Great Positive Products with No Negative Effects
[Preliminary: Normally products have a negative effect for the positive it produces, reflecting the charter of man. e.g. the atom bomb to fission of atom, utility of electricity vs. emissions, etc.]Science ushered mankind into the age of comfort, convenience, and speed.
It made the impossible possible, the inconceivable real. It is heartening to see science discovering products to fight disease and vaccines to prevent disease.
The dread disease of malaria could be largely stifled by sprinkling kerosene on stagnant water, which prevents the breeding of mosquitoes. Science is knowledge.
Unfortunately, knowledge is double-edged. The machine gun that deals a mortal blow to the criminal is sometimes wielded by the criminal himself. (MSS, extracted)
Other
Thoughts on the Nature of Technology
As you know technology is just a capability, rather a tool to improve the capability that man has already known about.Technology itself is an expression of human capability.
Technology by itself may not have the power to instill values in humans, however it may act as catalyst as it has the power to expand the knowledge horizons in human minds. (Jayasree Ahuja)
For several centuries, Science has been discovering the laws of Nature. Its concentration has been mainly on technology. Technology makes a small energy do a great work, which means the scientist makes the energy expand. In other words, the scientist makes energy CONSCIOUS because that which is not conscious cannot expand by itself. (MSS)
Technological Application Lags Technical Innovation
The rate of technological innovation and diffusion is one thing, the extent of technology application is quite another. Technological development far outpaces technological applications and accomplishments in even the most advanced societies. Adoption and full utilization of already proven technologies can dramatically elevate performance in every country and in every field. To cite a single example, the average yield of tomatoes in India is 8 tons per acre, yet more advanced farmers achieve yields as high as 20 tons. The average yield of tomato in California is 35 tons in California, but one of California’s leading tomato farmers with 1200 acres under cultivation routinely obtains average yields of 55 tons or more by applying advanced systems for micro-nutrient management applicable to all crops and climates. Applying more sophisticated and capital intensive technology, Israeli farmers achieve yields of 250 tons or more of tomato per acre. This wide variation in the application of technology within and between countries is nothing new. But it is a significant determinant of development and a factor that is at least partially responsive to social policies. The theory needs to explain these variations and show how they act as determinants of the development process. (MSS)
Parallels of Subtlety Between Emerging Individuals and Technologies
Just as there are individuals of mento-spiritual bent, indicating a more subtle quality of human emerging, there are occupations emerging that reflect a parallel subtlety. E.g. we can see this in the forms of higher technology, such as computer software. If we observe the world around us we can see how products and services are moving towards ever-greater subtlety of form reflecting the subtlety of spirit emerging in human life.The Advancing Materials of Technology
As technology advances, one finds the materials used are more refined. It is worth noting that the stronger the material, the lighter it is. This is a spiritual truth that the subtler the plane or substance, the more powerful it is. (MSS)How Rural Societies Can Skip the Industrial Stage of Development
- The world evolved from agriculture to modern society via manufacturing.
- As the centuries or decades pass, the Mind awakens.
- It hastens the change.
- Now that the service sector dominates and society has given a tool of technology – computer – India can skip both the initial phases largely.
- Rural areas can generate their own service sector and agriculture can be avoided to a great extent. (MSS)
MSS Article
Internet as the Integrating Technology
Mind's and Spiritual Mind's Multiplier Effect in Society
The computer and Internet revolution are indicators of the further emergence of the mental consciousness in society. Anything that enhances that movement has a multiplier effect. E.g. for each information technology job that is created, a dozen or more other related jobs are created directly or indirectly. The mind and its mental application through works in society has that multiplier power. Society's implementation of mind centered in the spiritual consciousness has that potential effect to the infinite degree.
Multiplier Effect of Integration of Sectors
The integration of two or more sectors of social activity, organization or technology leads to a multiplication of their productive power, as the combination of computer and telecommunications has given rise to the Internet which integrates multiple functions including news delivery, education, commerce, and entertainment. (MSS)
Technological Advancement & Employment
The conception that technological advancement inevitably destroys more jobs than it creates is not supported by the facts. There is no direct relationship between technological development and unemployment. Therefore, it is not true that rising levels of unemployment will be an inevitable aspect of the future society.
a. In spite of the unprecedented adoption of new technologies during this century, the USA, which is one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, has quadrupled the number of people employed since 1900 and has a higher percentage of its population employed today than at any time in the past 100 years.
b. It is true that introduction of new technologies can eliminate jobs in specific fields of activity. It is also true that it can create many more jobs in other fields related to scientific and industrial research, education, equipment manufacture and repair.
c. The higher paid jobs generated by technological development also increase purchasing power and demand for goods and services generating a multiplier effect that creates jobs in unrelated sectors of the economy.
In many fields, a shortage of labor is a driving force for technological advancement rather than vice versa.
a. There is a shortage of labor for agriculture not only in industrialized nations, which immigrant labor is essential, but even in the more developed regions of countries such as India (e.g. Punjab, Pune, Coimbatore).
b. According to current estimates there are more than 200,000 unfilled jobs for computer software professionals in the USA today alone.
c. The tooling and machining industry in USA, which employs highly skilled, high paid (average $40,000 or more) workers, has been suffering from an increasing shortage of job applicants for the past decade or more, despite concerted efforts by the industry to promote careers in this sector.
MSS Article: Internet as the Integrating Technology
Other
Microsoft's Openness; Apple's Possessiveeness
~300 million PCs will be sold to Apple's 25 million sold this year 92008), and the net difference is actually increasing per year. E.g. in 2012 we can project ~600 million to 60, a vast 550 million differential, so the notion expressed here is wrong.The problem with Apple is that though it has a more innovative OS and other products, they are proprietary, i.e. it is not open for others to use as in the PC. The Mac OS can only be used by Apple. If it had been made available to other vendors years ago Apple might have had the 300 to 25 million lead.
The root cause however is that for all of Jobs' genius he is a possessive personality. Gates though far less visionary was more open, and thus the world rushed to the occasion with the dominant Windows OS. Apple can still change with the IPhone, but signs there are of proprieteriness and possessiveness, which will give a vast opening for Microsoft or other based OSs for Smartphones to eventually dominate just as the PC dominated over the Mac. Gates may be boring, but he was open to let the whole world share in the Windows experience, unlike Apple and Jobs who were narrow and possessive. Society wanted openness and Windows, with all its limitations, provided it.
