Modern Technology

  • Imagine that our physical strength multiplies almost overnight: that we suddenly become so strong that we have to touch things very carefully because we could easily crush them; that we become deafeningly loud, that our pace accelerates so much that we have to focus on avoiding collisions; that we become so tall and massive that every movement we make endangers things and beings around us. Although we would have significant advantages with the gained strength, it is very clear that we would need to be much more careful, responsible, and aware of others to avoid harming them.
  • In a way, this is what technology has brought us: machines enable one person to do the work of multiple people; the internet allows thousands or more people to hear our voice; means of transportation are constantly speeding up, and the consequences of many of our actions have become so powerful that they affect everything else. What we eat, where we shop, which petitions we support online, what we put on the internet, which means of transportation we use. Timo, how we spend our free time – today an individual can have a much greater impact than ever before, especially because there are over 6 billion of us on a planet that has not increased in size or natural resources.

    Unfortunately, despite the fact that technology has developed to unimaginable levels, we as human beings have not kept up with this development to the same extent. We are still psychologically, spiritually, and morally the same, and above all, we have been raised with the idea that we have the right to always put ourselves first. Post-modern ethics blend with the concept of personal development: everything boils down to the self, what is good for me personally is good.

    It is not difficult to see that the increase in ways and means to achieve more and more selfish goals can have very dangerous consequences. In his book Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-first Century?1, British Royal Astronomer Sir Martin Rees claims that Earth and humanity are in far greater danger than potenci There are more negative effects of modern technology than is commonly thought. He controversially estimates that humanity has only a fifty-fifty chance of survival in the 21st century.

    Regardless of whether he is right or not, it is high time we find a way out of our narcissistic trap and start thinking again about the whole of which we are a part. And this is not important only on an individual level, but also on a collective level. We cannot continue to choose only based on what is best for our community or country. We must choose based on what is best for humanity, what is best for our planet, what is best in the long run. For this purpose, we need to develop our inner human capacities. There is a fundamental and essential connection between our inner development and the global challenges we face. We can only solve them by growing up, taking responsibility, and developing the necessary wisdom to make the right decisions. Maybe the crisis is exactly what we need.

    1 Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive Living in the Twenty-first Century? (2003.)