"The Question Concerning Technology" is more-or-less the only Heidegger that I've incorporated into my work... I found I had no desire to tackle his tomes, but this essay is exemplary. I return to it quite often, and it remains quite astonishing.
The Yuk Hui sounds fascinating, but I think pragmatically I shall settle for your notes on this book! 😊
Very nice piece. Thank you! Thinking about AI I am reminded of Leon Wieseltier's remark that "Every technology is used before it is completely understood. There is always a lag between an innovation and the apprehension of its consequences. We are living in that lag, and it is a right time to keep our heads and reflect.”
I think that's exactly where we are with a lot of modern technologies, not just AI We are living in the lag. And that is a disconcerting place to be.
But let me throw out a provocative thought about alternatives to the techno-fascist reality. Is it a coincidence that, in the West at least, it seems the only people who have adequately resisted this malaise have a strong and deeply-rooted sense of ethnocultural identity? I have in mind primarily the Amish, but also perhaps Orthodox Jews and similar groups. I don't think it's a coincidence. I think techno-fascism glides in easily to fill the void left by blood-and-soil and spiritual identities that are dissolved by modernity.
Thanks for your comment and for the apt quote. We are definitely living in the lag! And yeah, you are right that groups like the Amish and the Hasidim who have shared values and social cohesion seem—admirably—to be the only ones able limit many of the negative effects of modern technics. It is certainly no coincidence; I think it is the intentionality of these communities that has allowed them to avoid many of the technological trappings of modernity. They have clear ideas about who they are and where they fit in the cosmic order they believe in, and this informs their values, norms, and strictures about tool use.
The question of what the rest of us can do is more complicated, but there does seem to be a growing movement to reject AI altogether instead of conceding its inevitability and handing over agency to the technocrats. Like the luddites of the past. Whether such a movement can succeed to any degree is unclear. On the individual level, all I think we can do in the meantime is “teach our children well” and build, strengthen, and maintain deep community ties wherever we reside.
Dear Peter,
"The Question Concerning Technology" is more-or-less the only Heidegger that I've incorporated into my work... I found I had no desire to tackle his tomes, but this essay is exemplary. I return to it quite often, and it remains quite astonishing.
The Yuk Hui sounds fascinating, but I think pragmatically I shall settle for your notes on this book! 😊
Stay wonderful!
Chris.
Very nice piece. Thank you! Thinking about AI I am reminded of Leon Wieseltier's remark that "Every technology is used before it is completely understood. There is always a lag between an innovation and the apprehension of its consequences. We are living in that lag, and it is a right time to keep our heads and reflect.”
I think that's exactly where we are with a lot of modern technologies, not just AI We are living in the lag. And that is a disconcerting place to be.
But let me throw out a provocative thought about alternatives to the techno-fascist reality. Is it a coincidence that, in the West at least, it seems the only people who have adequately resisted this malaise have a strong and deeply-rooted sense of ethnocultural identity? I have in mind primarily the Amish, but also perhaps Orthodox Jews and similar groups. I don't think it's a coincidence. I think techno-fascism glides in easily to fill the void left by blood-and-soil and spiritual identities that are dissolved by modernity.
Thanks for your comment and for the apt quote. We are definitely living in the lag! And yeah, you are right that groups like the Amish and the Hasidim who have shared values and social cohesion seem—admirably—to be the only ones able limit many of the negative effects of modern technics. It is certainly no coincidence; I think it is the intentionality of these communities that has allowed them to avoid many of the technological trappings of modernity. They have clear ideas about who they are and where they fit in the cosmic order they believe in, and this informs their values, norms, and strictures about tool use.
The question of what the rest of us can do is more complicated, but there does seem to be a growing movement to reject AI altogether instead of conceding its inevitability and handing over agency to the technocrats. Like the luddites of the past. Whether such a movement can succeed to any degree is unclear. On the individual level, all I think we can do in the meantime is “teach our children well” and build, strengthen, and maintain deep community ties wherever we reside.