Technology and the Human Condition Does Technology

Technology and the Human Condition

Does Technology Interfere with the Human Condition

Many people see technology as the saving grace of humanity, as a way to improve the human condition. However, as technology becomes more and more integrated into our daily lives, many are beginning to see technology more as a burden to humanity than as its savior. Instead of bringing people together, many argue that technology has done more to keep people apart and isolated and point to the fact that technology has come to replace human interaction in many aspects of life. In his story "Harrison Bergeron," Kurt Vonnegut creates a dystopian future where technology is used to enforce equality, with the result being that the warmth and caring of human interaction is replaced with isolation and cold callousness. Likewise, Jonah Lehrer's essay, titled "We Robots," reviews Sherry Turkle's new book which deals with her take on technology and its interference in the human condition. Both works, one which deals with fiction and the other reality, explore how technology can come to replace human interaction and the tragic results that can come about.

The world of 2081 is not a world which any sane person would hope to see if Kurt Vonnegut's dystopian future comes true; as it is a place where everyone if forced to be equal, no matter how ridiculous the attempt to do so. The Bergeron's, George, Hazel, and their son Harrison live in a world where intelligent people have buzzers in their heads to keep them from being too smart, and beautiful people must wear masks to cover their faces so other, less attractive people, don't feel bad. As Vonnegut himself stated "Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else." (Vonnegut) Every natural advantage is handicapped by the government to make everyone exactly equal, and everyone seems content to live in a place where everyone is made as stupid as the stupidest person and as weak as the weakest.

As a result of the government's attempt at equalization, the people live in an emotionally isolated existence where they are unable to connect or sympathize with others in their society. Technology is used to impose equality on everyone, but it also has the side effect of removing human interaction from people's lives. In a world where everyone is forced to be equal, where there are no differences between individuals, there is no need to create real human relationships. When everyone is the same, there is no need to interact with someone who can bring things to the relationship that a person is lacking. In short, there is no way to "complete" oneself through personal relationships.

Similarly, Sherry Turkle's Alone Together also discusses the role technology plays in limiting human interaction between individuals. In an essay entitled "We Robots," Jonah Lehrer reviews Turkle's book and the change in her views toward technology. Lehrer points out that Turkle formerly promoted the idea that technology was a good way to bring people together, but now has changed her tune. Lehrer argues that Turkle's latest book describes the way in which technology limits human interaction and is in the process of replacing it with technological interaction. Turkle argues that people "gravitate toward technologies that allow us to interact while inattentive or absent." (Turkle)

In a way, the technology of today has created a situation very similar to that of Vonnegut's dystopian future of 2081. Technology may not be used to enforce equality on people, but technology has changed the nature of the way people communicate. For instance, "instead of talking on the phone, we send a text; instead of writing wistful letters, we edit out Tumblr blog." (Lehrer) People still communicate but without the human interaction that was present before all this technology was created.