Technology: Humanity’s Double Edged Sword

Biologically, you and I are very similar to our forefathers who lived as simple animals hunting and gathering on the African plains. 

The key difference between now and then is the degree to which we have used technology to manipulate our environment to our benefit. 

Technology has improved our lives in countless ways. We must acknowledge that and be very thankful for it.

But I’m sure you’ll agree that technology also has a dark side. 

Luckily, smart individual choices can allow us to tap all the awesome benefits from technology, while avoiding the problems it creates. 

That is the focus of the fifth chapter of Supermorning. 

Technology revolutions

There are four key technology revolutions that got us to where we are today:

  • Agricultural: Stupendous increases in food production.
  • Industrial: Stupendous increases in the production of stuff. 
  • Techno-scientific: Stupendous increases in rate of change and technological power.
  • Digital: Stupendous increases in the amount of easily accessible information. 

The astute among you will notice the recurring use of “stupendous increases”. That’s what a technological revolution does. It lets us do more.

And not just a little more – a stupefying amount more. 

More is better… up to a point

Both us and our environment have limited capacity. Hence, it’s only logical that stupefying increases only help up to a point. 

This is best captured by the marginal utility curve: the increase in benefit derived from increased use of a technology, good or service. 

At the start, the marginal utility of most technologies is highly positive. But as saturation is approached, marginal utility becomes insignificantly low or even negative. 

Humanity’s problems with technology all stem from our inability to stop our increased use when the marginal utility curve turns negative. 

A journey through the revolutions

To drive this point home, we’ll spend the rest of the week on a little trip through the four technological revolutions listed above. 

See you tomorrow when we see how the agricultural revolution gave us total caloric abundance.