WHAT PRICE TECHNOLOGY?

 


To quote Einstein: "I believe that the abominable deterioration of ethical standards stems primarily from the mechanization and depersonalization of our lives—a disastrous byproduct of science and technology. Nostra culpa! (We are to blame!)".

Nobody questions the remarkable achievements and progress that science and technology have made to our quality of life. However, it’s become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity. Our great-grandchildren know how to use smart phones and computers, from an early age. But their general knowledge is woefully lacking. What do they know of the great cultural visionaries of the past,  who introduced us to art, music, philosophy, etc.  To a world of beauty, grace and the thirst for knowledge. For the most part, they haven't a clue.

People increasingly rely on smartphones, tablets, and computers for daily tasks such as navigation, reminders, work, and entertainment. This dependence reduces problem-solving abilities, memory retention, and independent thinking. Over time, technology can become a crutch rather than a tool.

While social media enables fast communication, it often replaces face-to-face interaction, weakening emotional bonds and empathy. Families may be physically together but emotionally distant. Excessive use of mobile phones, including social media and gaming apps, especially among teenagers can lead to screen addiction. This negative impact on their mental health could cause anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

The humanities have become undervalued and split from more profitable STEM (science/technology/engineering/mathematics) fields. Humanities' vocations, many of which do not directly feed into capitalist structures, are thereby compensated poorly.

The notion that the humanities are inherently less valuable than STEM has pushed students away from studying societally important subjects. The number of humanities degrees awarded drops every year - almost 25% from 2012 to 2020, and continuing in a downward trend. This decline of the humanities could deeply hurt academia and society as a whole.

 Not long ago, students at Montclair State University in New Jersey held a mock funeral outside the university’s college of humanities and social sciences building. Carrying bouquets of flowers, they stood by a tombstone inscribed with the names of the school’s 15 departments, including English, history and sociology.

                                                                            


                                                      Fears over the future of the humanities aren’t limited to New Jersey’s second-largest public university. At many schools, those fears are already becoming reality.

The humanities are not hobbies. They are critical pursuits that have shaped the world we know today. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity was inspired by philosopher David Hume. Quantum mechanics was apparently first imagined by writer Jorge Luis Borges. Medicine was influenced by Hippocrates, a famous Greek philosopher. The earliest scientists such as Isaac Newton, were deemed “natural philosophers.” Their creativity in their fields came from their understanding of the humanities.

Above all, the world could not function without English, journalism, sociology and other humanities majors. These disciplines are not only useful to STEM students, but are valuable majors in themselves. Journalists keep politicians accountable. English majors write our novels. Sociology majors point out the injustices in society. Philosophy transforms our understanding of ourselves, and the world we live in - making fundamental contributions to our economy, society and culture.

Technology, the market, and the liberal democratic state give us choices, but don’t teach us how to choose. They provide neither identity nor the set of moral sensibilities that are inseparable from identity: loyalty, respect and reverence. Technology knows how to make life easier and more comfortable, but it does not know how to make a person better. True success is not merely what a person has achieved, but what kind of person he/she has become.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHY PALESTINE?

Image
  At the conclusion of WWI, a conference was held in 1920 at San Remo that determined the precise boundaries for territories captured by the Allies. The attendees were the Principal Allied Powers, with The United States as a neutral observer. Great Britain was given the mandate for the establishment, in Palestine, of a national home for the Jewish people. “Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish People with Palestine and grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.” The Arabs received equivalent national rights in all the remaining parts of the Middle East – over 96% of the total area formerly governed by the Ottoman Turks. A year later, Winston Churchill cut off 75 percent of the territory of British Palestine area officially recognized as a Jewish national home, - which he named “Transjordan - and   gave it to the Hashemite dynasty from Arabi. Current-day Israel is only a quarter the size of the...
Read more

WHY ISRAEL?

Image
  WHY ISRAEL? It is hard to understand why the territory of Israel was chosen by God as the Jewish homeland. A small narrow piece of land, not at all distinctive and with no obvious resources. The very location proves that Israel   cannot be built into an empire. If one considers the geography: the Judean hills in one direction, the Sinai desert in the other, with a narrow coastal plain open to easy attack from the sea. Situated at the juncture of powerful empires makes it a major trade route,    both   strategic and vulnerable. Israel must always be a small country.                                                                                                    ...
Read more

THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT........

  BUT how many people care about the truth any more? What will it take for the world to wake up to the fact that they have been royally duped! Genocide and famine are the creation of Hamas, to seek support from their supporters and useful idiots around the world – and the world media fell for it. The first time the name “ Palestine ” came into use was around 2000 years ago when the Romans invaded the Jewish nation of Judea. That, by the way, is where the word “Jew” came from. After the Romans occupied Judea, they called it Syria Palestina . Fast forward to the end of the Ottoman Empire. In 1917 and 1918, the area known as “Palestine” came under British control. In 1919, the League of Nations divided up the Ottoman empire and Great Britain was appointed to govern the area - establishing the British Mandate in Palestine. Out of self-interest and political motives, the British carved off a huge piece of Palestine and created Jordan. In 1947, the UN proposed to partition the rest...
Read more