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Transcending the Opposition Between Techno-Utopianism and Techno- Dystopianism

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Transcending the Opposition Between Techno-Utopianism and Techno- Dystopianism Technology in Society xxx (2017) 1e5 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Technology in Society journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/techsoc Transcending the opposition between techno-utopianism and techno- dystopianism * Yu-Xiao Dai a, , 1, Su-Tong Hao b, 1 a Department of Physics, New York University, NY, 10003, United States b School of Philosophy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China article info abstract Article history: Technological utopianism (techno-utopianism) and technological dystopianism (techno-dystopianism) Received 1 July 2017 diverge on the impact of technology on social progress. Starting with the root of this antagonism, we Received in revised form reflect on the opinions of different sides and seek means of transcending the opposition from the per- 19 October 2017 spectives of Existentialism, Phenomenology, the Frankfurt School, the ‘Californian ideology’ and Socio- Accepted 7 November 2017 materiality. In order to resolve the conflict, we explore new directions in the context of thinking beyond Available online xxx the subject-object dichotomy and provide a new logical starting point by distinguishing between the ‘idealistic symmetric structure’ and the ‘realistic antisymmetric structure’. Keywords: © Technology 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Techno-utopianism Techno-dystopianism Subject-object dichotomy 1. The opposition between techno-utopianism and techno- technology undoubtedly ensure humans affluence, order, justice, dystopianism and freedom. As science and technology progress rapidly, however, their The idea that originated in modern times that scientific and negative effects on society are becoming more and more evident. technological advances are closely related to the human- Techno-dystopianism emerges as a response. Contrary to the uto- constructed ideal of a utopia founded the basis of scientific utopi- pians, techno-dystopianists hold a pessimistic view of technology anism. The advent of technological utopianism is best manifested in from their reflections that technological advance can deprive peo- Francis Bacon's New Atlantis published in 1627 [1]. This seminal ple of freedom and dignity and ultimately bring destruction to work depicts a society in which the attainment of perfection in humanity. In this view, the past is no longer conceived as dark and humanity is actualized not by improvements in the human condi- ignorant, but an age when humans lived in harmony with nature; tion, the democratization of the system, or the development of this relationship is sabotaged by science, which alienates humans morality, but by the advancement of science and technology. The from nature and places all under the reign of technology. This idea idea is further reinforced in the 19th century by the vanguard of is demonstrated in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1931) [4], set utopian socialism, as for instance, Henri de Saint-Simon, in the in the year 632 AF (‘Anno Ford’), i.e. 2540 AD, in a world where theory of industrialism [2], and Robert Owen, in his New Harmony Henry Ford is greeted as messiah due to his contribution to popu- experiment [3]. Techno-utopian thought followed many paths in larizing the principles of the assembly line, upon which the World the 20th century, from scientific and technological utopianism to State in the book is built upon, citizens are brainwashed into scientistic and technocratic movements. Along the road, the core of thinking that their own class is superior to others by ‘hypnopaedia’, technological utopianism is manifested: using current technologies and their unpleasant feelings are inhibited by taking a special drug. to design and construct the future, using scientific rationalism to In the novel, a ‘savage’ who bravely enters this ‘new world’ is guide and regulate our society, in the belief that science and appalled by the emptiness of the ‘civilization’ and eventually hangs * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (Y.-X. Dai). 1 Both authors contributed equally to this work. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2017.11.001 0160-791X/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article in press as: Y.-X. Dai, S.-T. Hao, Transcending the opposition between techno-utopianism and techno-dystopianism, Technology in Society (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2017.11.001 2 Y.-X. Dai, S.-T. Hao / Technology in Society xxx (2017) 1e5 himself. of action, ‘work’ or purposive-rational action, which is based on the Futurist Alvin Toffler, in his 1980 book The Third Wave [5], rational choice of strategic actions and oriented towards expanding foresees a utopian society based on technological advances such as control over nature, and ‘interaction’ or communicative action, personal computers, cell phones, and the internet. As we reflect on which includes activities that establish mutual understandings our current age of information, it is not difficult to see that Toffler is based on consensual norms and governed by social rules. He con- oblivious to the unintended consequences that technology causes tends that technological advancement does not guaran-tee the us, the limitations of technology in addressing social issues, and the creation of a rationalized society, and neither will it turn all humans uncertainties in technology adoption. We ought to be vigilant into techno-serfs, instead, we should combine technological ad- against the superstition imposed by techno-optimism that tech- vancements with public concerns for questions about the good life nology is something to be worshiped, a deity that we can put all our and discussions of values, and by constantly re-evaluating the trust in, since there is no guarantee in the first place that technol- applica-tions of technology to society, mitigate its negative effects. ogies are invented and used for the social good. Overlooking the At the same time, Habermas is interested in the impact of tech- incompleteness and unpredictability of technology will do nothing nological advancement on social progress. He inherits Arnold for our social problems but only worsen the crisis in our world. In Gehlen's naturalistic view of technology and states that technology Greek mythology, young Icarus, flapping the wings his father had is, in essence, an organic progression of humans' means of solving crafted, soared into the sky, flew too close to the sun and fell into their problems, so the history of technology is equated with the the sea, which always reminds us if we are too complacent about objectification of purposive rationality. our technology and use it imprudently, we could also be destroyed Don Ihde, from a phenomenological approach, points out that by our hubris. when we reflect on the role technology plays in the relationship As a reflection and re-examination of technology on the grounds between humans and the world, the means by which technology of history and reason, techno-dystopianism, warning people of the mediates our daily experience can be classified through four types potential risks of technology, revolutionizes our views on tech- of relation-ships: Embodiment Relations, Hermeneutic Relations, nology and reignites our passion for a spiritual home. However, Alterity Relations and Background Relations. To wit, technology can narratives of techno-dystopianism often go to such extremes as be embodied by humans in practice (e.g. telescopes, knifes), be read despising and detesting technology. Are their claims legitimate? or used to interpret the world (e.g. thermometers), become a After understanding the drawbacks of technology, should we technolog-ical other (e.g. in-car GPS systems), and be experienced abandon technology? Up to this point, can we live without tech- as the background (e.g. lights, heaters) [9]. He considers technology nology? We argue techno-utopianism is too optimistic and techno- as embedded in cultures, and argues that it develops in different dystopianism deviates from reality. directions in different cultures. Therefore, the ’same’ technology when embedded in different ways in corresponding cultural con- 2. The road to transcendence texts can become totally ’different’ technologies. Technological mediation provides humans with new representations of the To embrace technology or abandon it, that is the crux of the objective world and expands our horizon. Ihde proposes the term opposition between techno-utopianism and techno-dystopianism ’technological intentionality’ to account for the ability of tools to and the question we need to investigate. In the conventional reveal unknowns and change the way phenomena appear. The context, philosophers have sought different ways of transcending intentionality of tools is expressed in the unity of technology with it. the human and/or the world, the variations of which affect the Technology, according to Existentialists, can progress along intentional arc of human-technology-world. many different routes, from which social values determine the To reach beyond an ancient tradition of Western political theory desirable one with maximal benefits and minimal damage to the concerning ‘the dilemma of development’, namely that, the prog- society. In The Question Concerning Technology [6], Martin Heideg- ress of civic virtue and of material prosperity are mu-tually exclu- ger criticizes the instrumental and anthropological conception of sive, Andrew Feenberg holds the view that it is not just moral technology that views it only as a means and a human activity progress that is impeded by the rapid development of technology, prospectively and
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