Can we put the Genie back in the bottle? |
Wednesday May 26 2010
Jerry Mander is a kind of technology prophet. As an ex-advertising guru he ‘got religion’ and in 1977 began to herald the dangers of technology in Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. In his 1992 book, In the Absence of the Sacred, he shows how the introduction of technology takes on a life of its own and leads to untended consequences—from potential environmental disasters and economic upheaval to unlawful and inhumane control and manipulation of others. He also asserts that, while new technologies can be extremely positive, at least initially they almost always have a strong negative impact as well. Mander’s prognosis is gloomy—with consequences ranging from environmental degradation (such as climate change and catastrophic oil spills), quality of life issues (such as permanent gridlock in traffic and increased pressure to respond faster), the assault of media overload on our consciousness, the growing threat of ‘super bugs’ on our health, or long-term threats to civilization from uncontained nuclear waste or some as yet unnamed cyber virus. He says, "Technological evolution is leading to something new: a worldwide, interlocked, monolithic, technical-political web of unprecedented negative proportions."[Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with: creating_life environment gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill jerry_mander technology
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