Why I like technology
I was asked by a friend the other day why I liked technology so much, which I found rather curious. My friend was perhaps reflecting on the meanings in his life, and was seeking hope when he could find none. To me the answer seemed so obvious, that I couldn't respond at the time. If I were to be asked the question again, in greater composure, I would say that I like technology for the very same reason that I like science, or why I like to read so much. It gives meaning to my life. I do not mean this in a poetic 'mystical' sense, as in giving purpose to one's actions, but rather because it makes life 'understandable'. Knowledge provides a certain amount of conceptual coherence to what would otherwise be a series of innocuous and irreverent images. Perhaps Jose Ortega y Gassett said it best, when he wrote that it is knowledge that makes us human. Any animal, say a tiger or a crow, will only be limited by the tools nature has given it--claws or wings. Humans, since they can have any of these, are only left with their ideas. It is these ideas which give us our greatest power and, hopefully, our greatest humility.