Thoughts on Technology

Ever since the release of our “Passing Spirit” EP Brian and I have been enveloped in songwriting for our new album. As part of this process we’ve been thinking a lot about the lyrics for the album, and the ideas we want to express within them. Our goal with this album is to present a collection of topics that are unified around a common theme, and conceptually we hope these ideas will be dense and intricately composed. One topic that we’ve been fascinated with for a very long time is the sense of how technology, and specifically our modern technology, has affected humanity. This has been a theme we’ve used to various degrees in previous songs, poems, and a play I wrote in 2006-07 called “Junior Code.”

It’s been almost five years since I wrote and directed the play “Junior Code” at Cornell College. At the time this was my most gratifying artistic achievement, and I still think of it as a very ambitious and successful project, although time has dulled somewhat my excitement about it. This is of course the case with all things I’ve created, however some creations resonate longer than others with me. (I think this is usually true because either they still relate to my new personal circumstances, or because their complexity, thoughtfulness, or beauty are still powerful in my mind.)

Below is the monologue from “Junior Code” that I was probably the most proud of at the time I wrote it. The concept was that the main character would deliver a speech about how technology had affected human life, and his life in particular. This is obviously a very broad topic, and I was well aware of the fact that I could not adequately address every aspect of this subject in one speech, but in the context of the play I felt this probably did a good enough job.

During the performances the actor sat reflectively on the edge of the stage, puffing on a lit “joint”, as multiple screens (two TVs and a projector screen) streamed rapidly changing images that gave form to the words being uttered; first images of technology devoid of humanity (beside the initial creation), then technology with humans in joyful triumph, and finally technology with humans in despair or anguish. These images started as a slow progression, graceful in their pace, and then as the speech continued the images began to change faster and faster; a kaleidoscope of stimuli. All the while a low droning of sustained synth broods underneath the monologue, with percussive pops and squeals that pierce through the muddled audio cloud. Into this environment the actor pensively speaks.


 

“Technology, the body of knowledge available to a society that is of use in fashioning implements, practicing manual arts and skills, and extracting or collecting materials. Obviously that’s a large body of knowledge. After all we’ve been collecting it since before recorded time. Most of us seem to be obsessed with our technology, and we find any excuse to use the latest knowledge we have all the time. For example, I write exclusively using a computer, drive three blocks instead of walking, and use my cell phone more often than I care to admit. Technology is also a scientific method of achieving a practical purpose. What is a practical purpose? Understanding illness…Identifying diseases, that seems practical. Curing those diseases, that also seems fairly practical. Vaccinating children so they don’t catch those diseases? How about bioengineering those children so they can never get those diseases? Is there a line? I don’t know.

Technology is always moving up, always building upon itself. History doesn’t wait for morality to catch up, and sometimes it blasts morality away with the force of a thousand suns. Sometimes technology advances beyond those that wish to use it. Yet today humans gain so much knowledge about the world through entirely virtual outputs. We watch “reality” on the television, and connect to a virtually limitless supply of knowledge on our computers. And technology has gotten very good at capturing reality. In fact, many people approach this captured reality as the only reality. When technology has built its own world, one that can be as vibrant as the real world it was spawned from, what does that say?

I know that our level of knowledge has forever changed the way we think, even about the past. We focus our intellect on bridging gaps in our own knowledge; filling in the unknown blanks, searching for deeper and deeper nuances, always finding something else to learn. As I explore these ever-expanding tunnels I realize how my mind is different than minds of the past. Stacking newer ideas on top of each other, so many basics are lost; so much of who I was is destroyed. Some of the baser things I can never reclaim, so many animal desires are gone, replaced by newer complexities. No better, just different. My new mind is built every day; part of our new technology.”

Although I still feel these ideas are valid, there are some thoughts that I simply missed at the time, beside the obviously naive and partially untrue oversimplification of our relationship with reality television. For one, information overload was not really addressed explicitly. This is not merely a theoretical danger that exists in today’s over-stimulated culture as we’ve seen this played out in regards to highly public issues such as global warming. Parties with agendas can find a wealth of data to throw at people, essentially diluting the pool of truth with lies that appear the same.

Along with the phenomenon of information saturation there seems to be a propensity for modern humans to selectively interact. For example, I prefer one style of music more than all others. Now several years ago if I wanted to listen to music my options would have been fairly limited in many ways, but with my iPod (or smartphone) in my pocket, and the internet at my fingertips, I can envelop myself in the music that I like and never hear anything else. I used to think that this was a good thing, the availability of options. What this actually does is weaken a person’s overall understanding of the larger body of music as a whole. I hear what I think I want to hear, and never expand my horizons. I’m never forced to experience or consider something new. In this way it’s very easy to become experts of your own niche and have no comprehension of things outside of your own constructed bubble. I think this can, in some cases, create less well-rounded individuals who are less capable of relating to others, but it also most certainly skews our understanding of the world around us, and can paint an image of how things are that is simply not true.

These are merely ideas and I don’t have any research that would support this beside my own observations, however I can’t help but think about these issues, how they affect me, and what I can do (if I so choose) to alter the situation. Anyway, let me know if you have any thoughts or insights on these topics, as I would gladly read them.

Also please enjoy the included media.