Nature And Technology Argument Analysis

In this essay we will be discussing the uncritically acclaimed statement that opposes the subjects of nature and technology. Many have argued that the introduction of technology and its progress through time has bought about a disturbance in how life is now seen and lived according to the natural order of things and that it has taken away the naturalistic quality we once possessed as humans to interact with nature and the environment. In order to understand this statement and decide whether to parallel or form a dissimilar argument about it, we will be looking at excerpts from Donna, J. Cox (1989) The Tao of Postmodernism: Computer Art, Scientific Visualization and Other Paradoxes, Val Dusek (2006) Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction,

While this might be a very compelling argument to some, others have found technology to be quite contradictory to the perceived norms of Mother Nature and have stated that the introduction of this ever growing phenomenon has brought about a disturbance in natures ability to shape and reproduce the order of life. In trying to understand both these arguments one must start by understanding the true essence of what technology is and what qualities define and characterize it. According to Dusek(2001: 32/3), technology can be seen as an applied system that works together with a set of hardware tools to be set into a context for the people who use, repair and maintain it. He further suggests that as a tool, technology can be seen as a neutral instrument to be used or refused, yet when we look at technological systems it can then be viewed as being more autonomous (Dusek 2001 : 36). This tells us that technology consists of a vast range of features that characterize it and because of this a lot of people have formulated different opinions of its effect in our world through its growth. Nature, by some, has been described as a phenomenon of the collective

Whether we can say that technology and nature are binary oppositions is an argument that is yet to be resolved as no one really knows what the future holds, we can only assume. One thing is clear though, and that is that technology is and will probably always be limited to the advancement of our intelligence as humans and although it consists of a whole range of tools and systems, many would agree that it can only ever be measured by our ability to interact with it and apply it to our special consciousness, as seen from my example (fig 1). Nature has always found a way to regenerate itself and adapt to the changes that it comes across, technology has proven to be one of those deviations from the natural order of how things were in the past and this leaves us as humans on a crossroad of deciding whether technology can be integrated with nature or whether one of these phenomenon needs to be sacrificed for the progression of