Are we evolving in a promising direction?

[kmguru]

Adam, I like your thought. I also wonder what the next level lifeforms could be. If you extrapolate our use of brains to create tools to tame the nature - the next logical step is to change the reality itself, like re-writing a computer program. It is very difficult to comprehend what the next jump will be. But I think, we can think the unthinkable....

just my 2 cents....

 

[Yogamojo]

Evolving technology...

Technology is our claw, our armour. We have evolved and grown over the ages with that claw.

Indeed technology is our "claw" or tool, and more rapidly than us is it evolving: whether this is positive or not remains to be seen. Our science and technology could potentially save us from the damage it is exacting on our planet, and if it doesn't then it will surely destroy us. If it is evolving quickly and in the right direction and we use it properly then perhaps we can supercede the negative effects that it imposes on every other life form on this planet, because, you see, no species benefits from our technology except for us! As a race it is in the spiritual and philosophical areas that we need improvement, we are sort of like great doddering, inexperienced children blessed with the powers of gods: unequipped and unsuited to wield them so far. On a positive note, perhaps our technology will force us to examine these sagging areas and improve upon them, I hope it does!

 

[Adam]

Although irresponsible use of our technology does cause problems (pollution and such), our technology does indeed also have great benefits for other species. All around the world, our human technology is being used to ensure the survival of endangered species. So we get a bit of both, the bad and the good. Hopefully corporate dweebs who like to pollute will one day ONLY have access to "clean" production methods and such.

As for that "power of gods" stuff, well, I never believed in the idea of gods. A kid with a gun has the power of life and death over an adult without one. I have at my disposal greater technology than do people in the stone age tribes of the Amazon basin. I can kill, I can create life (by shagging). None of these things is really that special, all thigns considered. Never saw any place for "gods", never saw proof or reason for proof. Regardless of how advanced our technology becomes, it will always be just our technology. Whether we have the intellectual capacity to use it wisely as our tech advances is not a new problem. We've faced that very problem for a very long time, it has been a part of us for a very long time. Heck, look at how we spent a thousand years misusing steel! And gunpowders or various types! Such ideas about whether we can be responsible with our tech are nothing new.

 

[goofyfish]

Originally posted by Adam
...our technology does indeed also have great benefits for other species. All around the world, our human technology is being used to ensure the survival of endangered species...

But it is our technology and the resources that are required to develop and maintain it that are endangering these species.

A kid with a gun has the power of life and death over an adult...

A perfect anaolgy. Access to power without pausing to reflect on the consequences. Mankind is the kid.

We've faced that very problem for a very long time, it has been a part of us for a very long time.

And despite the fact that we're aware of our problem, we still choose not to stop to think.

 

[Yogamojo]

Nothing new...

Originally posted by Adam
Such ideas about whether we can be responsible with our tech are nothing new.

You are quite correct, Adam, it is nothing new. In fact, it is one of the oldest problems we face. Yes, we do good things with our technology such as helping endangered species, but would there be endangered species if technology hadn't screwed up the natural habitats of these creatures in the first place?

I also agree with your previous comment about the "god" issue. To clarify I didn't mean to say that only gods should hold the privilege of such a power as technology, what I was saying is that this is a godlike power which we wield like a child: without a clear concept of what will happen. True, a child with a gun can indeed exercise control over an adult, but an experienced gun user is a far better candidate to use his weapon responsibly, right?

We definitely need to get the technology into the hands of the right people, people who do not intend to capitalize on it, or exude personal gain. And to attain this we must undergo a spiritual/philosophical metamorphosis, we need to evolve with our brain-child: namely science. Science cannot do good on its own, it must be put up to the task by its creators...You're on the right track man!

 

[Adam]

I really wish our education system in Australia involved philosophy and rational thinking classes or something like that from the earliest school years. Maybe get people to realise that earning an extra 200 thousand dollars per year for the next five years isn't worth destroying some land which will take half a milliojn years to heal. Get them to realise that cheaper filling in running shoes isn't worth as much as things like exploring the universe.